The Qur'an (Oxford World's Classics)

2: 68
The Cow 9
shall forgive you your sins and increase the rewards of those who do
good.’ 59 But the wrongdoers substituted a different word from the
one they had been given. So, because they persistently disobeyed,
We sent a plague down from the heavens upon the wrongdoers.
60 Remember when Moses prayed for water for his people and We
said to him, ‘Strike the rock with your staff.’ Twelve springs gushed
out, and each group knew its drinking place. ‘Eat and drink the
sustenance God has provided and do not cause corruption in the
land.’ 61 Remember when you said, ‘Moses, we cannot bear to eat only
one kind of food, so pray to your Lord to bring out for us some of the
earth’s produce, its herbs and cucumbers, its garlic, lentils, and
onions.’ He said, ‘Would you exchange better for worse? Go to
Egypt and there you will find what you have asked for.’ They were
struck with humiliation and wretchedness, and they incurred the
wrath of God because they persistently rejected His messages and
killed prophets contrary to all that is right. All this was because they
disobeyed and were lawbreakers.
62 The [Muslim] believers, the Jews, the Christians, and the
Sabians a – all those who believe in God and the Last Day and do
good – will have their rewards with their Lord. No fear for them, nor
will they grieve. 63 Remember when We took your pledge, and made
the mountain tower high above you, and said, ‘Hold fast to what We
have given you and bear its contents in mind, so that you may be
conscious of God.’ 64 Even after that you turned away. Had it not
been for God’s favour and mercy on you, you would certainly have
been lost. 65 You know about those of you who broke the Sabbath,
and so We said to them, ‘Be like apes! b Be outcasts!’ 23 We made this
an example to those people who were there at the time and to those
who came after them, and a lesson to all who are mindful of God.
67 Remember when Moses said to his people, ‘God commands you
to sacrifice a cow.’ They said, ‘Are you making fun of us?’ He
answered, ‘God forbid that I should be so ignorant.’ 68 They said,
‘Call on your Lord for us, to show us what sort of cow it should be.’
He answered, ‘God says it should be neither too old nor too young,
a The Sabians were a monotheistic religious community. See M. Asad, The Message
of the Quran (Gibraltar: Dar al-Andalus, 1997), 40 n. 49.
b This is understood by some as ‘physically turn into apes’ but in fact it is a figure of
speech – the structure ‘be apes’ is like ‘be stones/iron’ in 17: 50. Just as the Quran
describes the disbelievers as blind, deaf, and dumb, here the transgressors are apes.