ONE AYAT A DAY
وَاِذْ قَالَ مُوْسٰى لِقَوْمِهٖ يٰقَوْمِ اِنَّكُمْ ظَلَمْتُمْ اَنْفُسَكُمْ بِاتِّخَاذِكُمُ الْعِجْلَ فَتُوْبُوْٓا اِلٰى بَارِىِٕكُمْ فَاقْتُلُوْٓا اَنْفُسَكُمْۗ ذٰلِكُمْ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ عِنْدَ بَارِىِٕكُمْۗ فَتَابَ عَلَيْكُمْ ۗ اِنَّهٗ هُوَ التَّوَّابُ الرَّحِيْمُ
Wa iż qāla mūsā liqaumihī yā qaumi innakum ẓalamtum anfusakum bittikhāżikumul- ‘ijla fatūbū ilā bāri'ikum faqtulū anfusakum, żālikum khairul lakum ‘inda bāri'ikum, fatāba ‘alaikum, innahū huwat-tawwābur-raḥīm(u).
And [recall] when Moses said to his people, "O my people, indeed you have wronged yourselves by your taking of the calf [for worship]. So repent to your Creator and kill yourselves [i.e., the guilty among you]. That is best for [all of] you in the sight of your Creator." Then He accepted your repentance; indeed, He is the Accepting of Repentance, the Merciful.
The Children of Israel kill each other in RepentanceThis was the repentance required from the Children of Israel for worshipping the calf. Commenting on Allah's statement; وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَى لِقَوْمِهِ يَـقَوْمِ إِنَّكُمْ ظَلَمْتُمْ أَنفُسَكُمْ بِاتِّخَاذِكُمُ الْعِجْلَ(And (remember) when Musa said to his people: "O my people! Verily, you have wronged yourselves by worshipping the calf...), Al-Hasan Al-Basri said, "When their hearts thought of worshipping the calf, وَلَمَّا سُقِطَ فَى أَيْدِيهِمْ وَرَأَوْاْ أَنَّهُمْ قَدْ ضَلُّواْ قَالُواْ لَئِن لَّمْ يَرْحَمْنَا رَبُّنَا وَيَغْفِرْ لَنَا(And when they regretted and saw that they had gone astray, they (repented and) said: "If our Lord does not have mercy upon us and forgive us") (7:149). This is when Musa said to them, يَـقَوْمِ إِنَّكُمْ ظَلَمْتُمْ أَنفُسَكُمْ بِاتِّخَاذِكُمُ الْعِجْلَ(O my people! Verily, you have wronged yourselves by worshipping the calf...)." Abu `Al-`Aliyah, Sa`id bin Jubayr and Ar-Rabi` bin Anas commented on, فَتُوبُواْ إِلَى بَارِئِكُمْ(So turn in repentance to your Bari') that it means, "To your Creator." Allah's statement, إِلَى بَارِئِكُمْ(to your Bari' (Creator)) alerts the Children of Israel to the enormity of their error and means, "Repent to He Who created you after you associated others with Him in worship." An-Nasa'i, Ibn Jarir and Ibn Abi Hatim recorded Ibn `Abbas saying, "Allah told the Ch…