(20:85) [Allah] said, "But indeed, We have tried your people after you [departed], and the Samiri has led them astray." (20:86) So Moses returned to his people, angry and grieved. He said, "O my people, did your Lord not make you a good promise? Then, was the time [of its fulfillment] too long for you, or did you wish that wrath from your Lord descend upon you, so you broke your promise [of obedience] to me?" (20:87) They said, "We did not break our promise to you by our will, but we were made to carry burdens from the ornaments of the people [of Pharaoh], so we threw them [into the fire], and thus did the Samiri throw." (20:88) And he extracted for them [the statue of] a calf which had a lowing sound, and they said, "This is your god and the god of Moses, but he forgot." (20:89) Did they not see that it could not return to them any speech and that it did not possess for them any harm or benefit? (20:90) And Aaron had already told them before [the return of Moses], "O my people, you are only being tested by it, and indeed, your Lord is the Most Merciful, so follow me and obey my order." (20:91) They said, "We will never cease being devoted to the calf until Moses returns to us." (20:92) [Moses] said, "O Aaron, what prevented you, when you saw them going astray, (20:93) From following me? Then have you disobeyed my order?" (20:94) [Aaron] said, "O son of my mother, do not seize [me] by my beard or by my head. Indeed, I feared that you would say, `You caused division among the Children of Israel, and you did not observe [or await] my word.` " (20:95) [Moses] said, "And what is your case, O Samiri?" (20:96) He said, "I saw what they did not see, so I took a handful [of dust] from the track of the messenger and threw it, and thus did my soul entice me." (20:97) [Moses] said, "Then go. And indeed, it is [decreed] for you in [this] life to say, `No contact.` And indeed, you have an appointment [in the Hereafter] you will not fail to keep. And look at your `god` to which you remained devoted. We will surely burn it and blow it into the sea with a blast. (20:98) Your god is only Allah, except for whom there is no deity. He has encompassed all things in knowledge."
