﴾149﴿ Wa lammaa suqita feee aideehim wa ra aw annahum qad dalloo qaaloo la'il lam yarhamnaa Rabbunaa wa yaghfir lanaa lanakoonanna minal khaasireen
﴾150﴿ Wa lammaa raja'a Moosaaa ilaa qawmihee ghadbaana asifan qaala bi'samaa khalaftumoonee min ba'dee 'a-'ajiltum amra Rabbikum wa alqal alwaaha wa akhaza bira'si akheehi yajurruhoo ilaiyh; qaalab na umma innal qawmas tad'afoonee wa kadoo yaqtu loonanee; falaa tushmit biyal a'daaa'a wa laa taj'alnee ma'al qawmiz zaalimeen

﴾149﴿ And when it was thrown in front of them and they knew that they had gone astray They said that if our Lord does not have mercy on us and does not forgive us, indeed we will be among the losers
﴾150﴿ And when Musa (peace be upon him) returned to his people, he was angry, it was sad, what a bad thing you did after me, Did you hasten from the promise of your Lord and put down the tablets and grabbed his brother's head and pulled him towards himself He said, Haroon, peace be upon him, O son of my mother, indeed this people considered me weak And they were about to kill me, so don't make my enemies happy for me And do not make me with the wrongdoers

[149] One point is that Musa (peace be upon him) burned the calf and threw its ashes into the sea, as mentioned in verse 98 of Surah Ta-Ha.
The second point is that when they repented for worshipping the calf, the reason for their falling (a metaphor for repentance) is mentioned in the next verse.
The phrase (قَالُوا) refers to the Israelites’ declaration of repentance from calf worship, and this is the reason for forgiveness as stated in verse 52 of Surah Al-Baqarah.
(يَرْحَمْنَا) here means acceptance of repentance, which comes before forgiveness.
But if رحم is taken to mean saving from sin, then forgiveness precedes mercy—similar to the supplication of Adam (peace be upon him) in verse 23 of Surah Al-A'raf.
This is also similarly mentioned in other places.
[150] After receiving the Book, Allah Most High informed him about the polytheism of his people, which is why he was angry and returned.
The proper sequence of events is mentioned in Surah Ta-Ha, where he first addressed his people, then spoke to his companion Harun (peace be upon him), and finally with Samiri.
But in this Surah, the chronological order is not the focus.
(خَلَفْتُمُونِي) is addressed to the worshippers of the calf, meaning that they replaced monotheism with polytheism—this is an unworthy succession. Or, it may be addressed to Harun (peace be upon him) and other leaders, meaning: “You did not carry out my succession properly,” because they did not prevent the people from committing shirk.
(أَعَجِلْتُمْ أَمْرَ رَبِّكُمْ) – The haste refers to changing the command, and the “command” here means the religion of monotheism, or it could mean the promise of forty nights, as mentioned in verse 86 of Surah Ta-Ha.
(وَأَلْقَى الْأَلْوَاحَ) – This means he placed the tablets down in anger; it does not imply throwing them disrespectfully, as that would not befit a prophet. Also, there is no clear, authentic proof that anything on the tablets broke.
(وَأَخَذَ بِرَأْسِ أَخِيهِ) – This grabbing was due to his anger based on his own assumption, not to humiliate Harun (peace be upon him). In Surah Ta-Ha, it is mentioned that he grabbed both his head and beard, but there it only says “do not seize my beard,” not explicitly stating he grabbed only the beard.
(ابْنَ أُمَّ) – Harun (peace be upon him) was the full brother of Musa (peace be upon him), sharing the same father and mother. Mentioning the mother specifically is for the sake of invoking mercy.
(وَكَادُوا يَقْتُلُونَنِي) – This shows that Harun (peace be upon him) had clearly explained the matter of monotheism to them, to the extent that they were ready to kill him.
(تُشْمِتْ) – This means to show happiness at the misfortune of an enemy. The implication is that discord among monotheists gives joy to the polytheists, and for this reason, such discord is forbidden.