2. Al-Baqara "The Cow" — Ayah 61
وَإِذْ قُلْتُمْ يَٰمُوسَىٰ لَن نَّصْبِرَ عَلَىٰ طَعَامٍۢ وَٰحِدٍۢ فَٱدْعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ يُخْرِجْ لَنَا مِمَّا تُنۢبِتُ ٱلْأَرْضُ مِنۢ بَقْلِهَا وَقِثَّآئِهَا وَفُومِهَا وَعَدَسِهَا وَبَصَلِهَا ۖ قَالَ أَتَسْتَبْدِلُونَ ٱلَّذِى هُوَ أَدْنَىٰ بِٱلَّذِى هُوَ خَيْرٌ ۚ ٱهْبِطُوا۟ مِصْرًۭا فَإِنَّ لَكُم مَّا سَأَلْتُمْ ۗ وَضُرِبَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ ٱلذِّلَّةُ وَٱلْمَسْكَنَةُ وَبَآءُو بِغَضَبٍۢ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ ۗ ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَانُوا۟ يَكْفُرُونَ بِـَٔايَٰتِ ٱللَّهِ وَيَقْتُلُونَ ٱلنَّبِيِّۦنَ بِغَيْرِ ٱلْحَقِّ ۗ ذَٰلِكَ بِمَا عَصَوا۟ وَّكَانُوا۟ يَعْتَدُونَ
And [recall] when you said, "O Moses, we can never endure one [kind of] food. So call upon your Lord to bring forth for us from the earth its green herbs and its cucumbers and its garlic and its lentils and its onions." [Moses] said, "Would you exchange what is better for what is less? Go into [any] settlement and indeed, you will have what you have asked." And they were covered with humiliation and poverty and returned with anger from Allah [upon them]. That was because they [repeatedly] disbelieved in the signs of Allah and killed the prophets without right. That was because they disobeyed and were [habitually] transgressing.
Question

So they asked for all this food and noses said to them to go into a settlement to find it but what happened after that?

Answer

After the Children of Israel requested a variety of foods, Musa (Moses) criticized their desire to exchange "that which is better for that which is lower" (2:61), referring to the superior manna and quails. He instructed them to "Go down to any *Misr*" (2:61), which Ibn Abbas and other scholars interpret as "any city," implying that such common foods were readily available elsewhere. Musa declined to intercede for these inferior provisions, deeming their request unnecessary and stemming from boredom.

Subsequently, the verse states, "And they were covered with humiliation and misery, and they drew on themselves the wrath of Allah" (2:61). This was a divine consequence for their repeated disbelief in Allah's signs (*Ayat Allah*) and their wrongful killing of prophets. This humiliation (*dhillah*) and misery (*maskanah*) are described as an ongoing state, a punishment for their disobedience and transgression (*`asaw wa kanu ya`tadun*). The phrase "drew on themselves the wrath" (*ba'u bighadabin*) means they returned carrying Allah's anger.

📚 Sources: Classical tafsir (multi-source)

← Asked & Answered Read this Surah