Translation of the meanings Ayah 134 Surah Al-A‘rāf - English Translation - Dr. Waleed Bleyhesh Omary - The Noble Qur'an Encyclopedia

Ayah: 134

وَلَمَّا وَقَعَ عَلَيۡهِمُ ٱلرِّجۡزُ قَالُواْ يَٰمُوسَى ٱدۡعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ بِمَا عَهِدَ عِندَكَۖ لَئِن كَشَفۡتَ عَنَّا ٱلرِّجۡزَ لَنُؤۡمِنَنَّ لَكَ وَلَنُرۡسِلَنَّ مَعَكَ بَنِيٓ إِسۡرَٰٓءِيلَ

(134) When the plight^[1737] hit them ˹hard˺, they said: “Mūsā, pray to your Lord for us by virtue of what He entrusted you with. Should you remove the plight ˹away˺ from us, we would surely Believe in you and we shall send the Children of Israel ˹away˺ with you!”

[1737] Exegetes are of different opinions as to what this plight (rijz) actually was. However, al-Wāḥidī, Ibn ʿĀshūr, al-Shinqīṭī deem it as the flood, locusts, bugs, frogs and blood which were just mentioned, citing in the process the following aya: “We showed them no Sign which was not greater than the one before it. We inflicted punishment on them so that they might return ˹to the Right Path˺” (43: 48). They only turned to Moses, when the affliction bit them hard (cf. Abū Ḥayyān), and hardly in a sincerely humble manner at that (cf. al-Saʿdī, Ibn ʿĀshūr): “They said: “Magician, call on your Lord for us, by virtue of what He entrusted you with: we shall certainly accept guidance. *But when We removed the punishment from them, they swiftly reneged!” (43: 49-50). This just shows the kind of people, Moses had to put up with; indeed a lesson for all those who suffer all sorts of hardship in pursuing their calling.