If we were to explain away the verses of miracle in this way...

If we were to explain away the verses of miracle in this way, no speech would remain safe from distor­tion; and no sentence could be taken to mean what it says; as a result, all the norms of eloquence and literature would lose their value.

QUR’?N: so that you may guard (against evil): "La'alla" () is a particle meaning "perhaps", "may be"; it denotes hope - the speaker may be hoping for something, or the person spoken who gives rise to the hope, or the situation justifies the hope although the speaker or the listener does not feel optimistic himself. In any case, it implies some uncertainty about the final outcome.

When this particle is used in a divine speech, it indicates hopefulness either with reference to the listener, or in context of the situation; but it can never refer to the speaker, that is, Allâh, because He can never be uncertain of any result. It has clearly been explained by ar-Râghib in his al-Mufradât. There­fore, whenever this word is used in the Qur’ân, it is translated as "so that . . . ", "in order that . . ." QUR’?N: Be apes despised: "Khâsi’în" ( = despised, humiliated).

QUR’?N: So We made them an example: “an-Nakâl" () means exemplary punishment meted out to one in order that others may desist from such transgression. QUR’?N: And when Musâ said to his people: "Surely Allâh com­mands you that you should sacrifice a cow. . . ": This is the story of the cow of the Israelites, and it is these verses which have given this chapter its name, the Cow. The Qur’ân has used a dramatic style for this story.

It opens with the middle of the story (verses 67 to 71) , followed by its beginning (verse 72) and ending with its conclusion (verse 73). Another thing to note is the changes of the pronouns - upto verse 66, the Israelites were directly addressed in second person; but verses 67 to 71 are addressed to the Prophet mentioning the Israelites in third person; then it reverts again to the original second person (verses 72 - 73). However, let us follow the narrative in the light of the Qur’ân.

Allâh addresses the Prophet referring to the Israelites in third person: "And when Musâ said to his people: `Surely Allâh commands you that you should sacrifice a cow'; they said . .