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.
Verse 54 of Surah Al-Baqarah (2:54), a Medinan surah, is in juz 1, on page 8 of the mushaf. Read it in Arabic with its transliteration, translations and tafsir, and listen to it recited by 69 reciters.
Listen to verse 54 of Surah Al-Baqarah
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Tafsir of verse 54
Al-Mukhtasar
Also, remember that Allah’s allowing you to ask His forgiveness for worshipping the calf, when Moses (peace be upon him) told you that you had wronged yourselves by taking the calf as a god and worshipping it, were from the blessings of Allah. Moses told you to ask for forgiveness and repent to your Creator by some of you killing others, because turning to Him in this way was better for you than persisting in disbelief, which would lead to an eternity in the fire of Hell. So, you did this with Allah’s approval, and He forgave you, for He is Forgiving and Merciful with His servants.
And [remember] when Moses said to his people, “O my people, you have wronged yourselves by taking the calf [for worship]. So repent to your Creator and kill yourselves [i.e., the guilty among you]; that is best for you with your Creator.” Then He accepted your repentance, for He is the Accepter of Repentance, the Most Merciful.
And (remember) when Mûsâ (Moses) said to his people: "O my people! Verily, you have wronged yourselves by worshipping the calf. So turn in repentance to your Creator and kill yourselves (the innocent kill the wrongdoers among you), that will be better for you with your Creator." Then He accepted your repentance. Truly, He is the One Who accepts repentance, the Most Merciful.
And when Moses said unto his people: O my people! Ye have wronged yourselves by your choosing of the calf (for worship) so turn in penitence to your Creator, and kill (the guilty) yourselves. That will be best for you with your Creator and He will relent toward you. Lo! He is the Relenting, the Merciful.
And remember Moses said to his people: "O my people! Ye have indeed wronged yourselves by your worship of the calf: So turn (in repentance) to your Maker, and slay yourselves (the wrong-doers); that will be better for you in the sight of your Maker." Then He turned towards you (in forgiveness): For He is Oft-Returning, Most Merciful.
And when Musa said to his people: O my people! you have surely been unjust to yourselves by taking the calf (for a god), therefore turn to your Creator (penitently), so kill your people, that is best for you with your Creator: so He turned to you (mercifully), for surely He is the Oft-returning (to mercy), the Merciful.
And (remember) as Musa (Moses) said to his people, "O my people, surely you have done injustice to yourselves by taking the Calf to yourselves. So repent to your Initiator (and) so kill yourselves. (i.e., the unburdening of their sins; forgiveness) That (Literally: these "killings") is most charitable for you in the Providence of your Initiator; so He relented towards you. Surely He, Ever He, is The Superbly Relenting, The Ever-Merciful".
And when regret overcame them and they saw that they had gone astray, they said, "If our Lord does not have mercy upon us and forgive us, we will surely be among the losers."
Verses with similar wording
They share a sequence of words with this verse: useful for telling them apart when memorising.
And [mention, O Muḥammad], when Moses said to his people, "O my people, remember the favor of Allāh upon you when He appointed among you prophets and made you possessors and gave you that which He had not given anyone among the worlds.
And [mention, O Muḥammad], when Moses said to his people, "O my people, why do you harm me while you certainly know that I am the messenger of Allāh to you?" And when they deviated, Allāh caused their hearts to deviate. And Allāh does not guide the defiantly disobedient people.
And [recall] when Moses said to his people, "Indeed, Allāh commands you to slaughter a cow." They said, "Do you take us in ridicule?" He said, "I seek refuge in Allāh from being among the ignorant."
And [recall, O Children of Israel], when Moses said to his people, "Remember the favor of Allāh upon you when He saved you from the people of Pharaoh, who were afflicting you with the worst torment and were slaughtering your [newborn] sons and keeping your females alive. And in that was a great trial from your Lord.