Al-A'raaf (The Heights)

155. “And Moses chose seventy men from his people for Our tryst, and when the earthquake overtook them, he said: ‘O’ Lord! had You pleased, You could have destroyed them and me before. Will You destroy us because of what the fools of us have done? It is naught but Your trial, wherebyYou cause to stray whomever You wish and guide whomever You wish. You are our master, so forgive us and have mercy on us, for You are the best of the forgivers.”

Once more, in this verse and the next one, the Qur’ān refers to a part of the story of Moses (as) when he, accompanying with a group of the Children of Israel, went to the tryst of Tūr.

At first, the Qur’ān says:

“And Moses chose seventy men from his people for Our tryst…”

But when those men of the Children of Israel heard the word of the Lord, they demanded Moses (as) to ask Allah to show Himself. At that time a great earthquake occurred and caused those people to pass away and Moses (as) fell down senseless. When he recovered his senses he said to the Lord that if He had wished He could have destroyed them and him before that. The verse says:

“…and when the earthquake overtook them, he said: ‘O’ Lord! had You pleased, You could have destroyed them and me before.

That is, Moses (as) meant how could he answer his people whose representatives became like that?

Then he said to the Lord that that undue request was the utterance of some fools of those people. Then he questioned Allah whether He destroyed them for what their fools had done. The verse says:

“…Will You destroy us because of what the fools of us have done?…”

Next to this supplication and request, he said to Him:

“…It is naught but Your trial, whereby You cause to stray whomever You wish and guide whomever You wish…”

And the statement of Moses (as) to the Lord, mentioned at the end of the verse, continued as follows:

“…You are our master, so forgive us and have mercy on us, for You are the best of the forgivers.”

From the totality of the verses of the Qur’ān and the Islamic traditions, it is understood that, at last, the people who were destroyed thereby were restored to life again and returned to the Children of Israel with Moses (as). They detailed for them what they had seen and began preaching those unaware people.