2:51

Wa iz waa'adnaa Moosaaa arba'eena lailatan summattakhaztumul 'ijla mim ba'dihee wa

antum zaalimoon

And recall that We appointed for Moses forty nights. Then you took to worshiping
the calf after him, and you turned wicked.

And (remember) when We appointed for Musa (Moses) forty nights, and (in his
absence)
you took the calf (for worship), and you were Zalimun (polytheists and wrongdoers).

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ASBAB AL NUZUL

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THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL WORSHIPPED THE CALF

- Allah then said, "Remember My favor on you when I forgave you for worshipping the
calf . This
happened after Musa went to the meeting place with his Lord at the end of that
period which
was forty days. These forty days were mentioned in Surat Al-Araf , when Allah said,

"And We appointed for Musa thirty nights and added (to the period) ten (more)"
(7:142)

"It was said that these days were during the month of Dhul-Qadah plus the first ten
days in
Dhul-Hijjah, after the Children of Israel were delivered from Firawn and they
safely crossed
the sea. Allah's statement

"And (remember) when We gave Musa the Scripture" means, the Tawrah,

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TAFSIR AL TUSTARI

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Decoding the Quran

We had pledged forty nights to Moses, and during this period you had deified a calf
as wrongdoers (you had done injustice to yourselves by falling into duality as a
result of denying your essential reality).

...
[2:51] And when We appointed for (wāʿadnā or waʿadnā) Moses forty nights, at the
end of which We shall give him the Torah for you to implement, then you took to
yourselves the calf, the one which the Samaritan fashioned for you as a god, after
him, that is, after he departed for Our appointment, and you were evildoers, for
taking it [in worship], because you directed your worship to the wrong place.