And when you said “Moses we will not endure one sort of food; pray to your Lord for us that He may bring forth for us of what the earth pro- duces-green herbs cucumbers garlic lentils onions”; He said “Would you exchange what is better with what is lowlierḍ” “Go down to a city you shall have what you demanded”; And abasement and wretchedness were cast upon them and they incurred God's wrath; that was because they used to disbe- lieve the signs of God and slay prophets without right; that was because they disobeyed and they were transgressors. They were not content with the goodness of [God] choosing for them nor were they patient in His managing what He desired for them in basic food and clothing. In their confusion they fell back to their customary behavior of eating impure food and finding contentment in a lower state so He returned them to the suffering of ignominy muqāsāt al-hawān and bound them to perpetual disappointment idāmat al-khidhlān. They went so far as to shed the blood of prophets and violated the sanctity of [God's] command with their lack of shame. They did not repent so He punished them for their ugly acts qabīḥ fiʿālihim and returned them to what He had chosen for their souls in their contemptible states khasāÌis aḥwālihim. When sincere counsel naṣīḥa did not succeed with them retribution and humiliation faḌīḥa overtook them. It is said that the children of Israel were divided in their aspirations and scattered in their objectives. They were not content to have just one food for themselves nor were they satisfied with one object of worship in their religion; [this was true] to the point that they said to Moses عليه السلام when they saw people worshiping idols “O Moses make for us a god just as they have gods” [7:138]. This is the attribute of the masters of separation arbāb al-tafriqa. Patience with the One al-wāḥid is hard. God most high said “And when you mention the Lord alone waḥdahu in the QurÌān they turn their backs in aversion” [17:46].
