قَالَ بَصُرْتُ بِمَا لَمْ يَبْصُرُوا بِهِ فَقَبَضْتُ قَبْضَةً مِنْ أَثَرِ الرَّسُولِ فَنَبَذْتُهَا وَكَذَلِكَ سَوَّلَتْ لِي نَفْسِي ﴿۹۶﴾ قَالَ فَاذْهَبْ فَإِنَّ لَكَ فِي الْحَيَاةِ أَنْ تَقُولَ لَا مِسَاسَ وَإِنَّ لَكَ مَوْعِدًا لَنْ تُخْلَفَهُ وَانْظُرْ إِلَى إِلَهِكَ الَّذِي ظَلْتَ عَلَيْهِ عَاكِفًا لَنُحَرِّقَنَّهُ ثُمَّ لَنَنْسِفَنَّهُ فِي الْيَمِّ نَسْفًا ﴿۹۷﴾ إِنَّمَا إِلَهُكُمُ اللَّهُ الَّذِي لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ وَسِعَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ عِلْمًا ﴿۹۸﴾

﴾96﴿ Qaala basurtu bimaa lam yabsuroo bihee faqabadtu qabdatam min asarir Rasooli fanabaztuhaa wa kazaalika sawwalat lee nafsee
﴾97﴿ Qaala fazhab fa inna laka fil hayaati an taqoola laa misaasa wa inna laka maw'idal lan tukhlafahoo wanzur ilaaa ilaahikal lazee zalta 'alaihi 'aakifaa; la nuharriqannahoo thumma la nansifannahoo fil yammi nasfaa
﴾98﴿ Innamaaa ilaahu kumul laahul lazee laa ilaaha illaa Hoo; wasi'a kulla shai'in ilmaa

﴾96﴿ Samiri said, "I perceived something they did not perceive, so I took a handful [of dust] from the footprint of the messenger and threw it, and thus my soul enticed me to do so
﴾97﴿ Moses (peace be upon him) said, Then go, for indeed, it is decreed for you in this life to say, 'Do not touch me.' And indeed, you have an appointment [in the Hereafter] that you will not fail to keep. And look at your god to which you remained devoted. We will surely burn it and scatter it into the sea as ashes
﴾98﴿ There is none worthy of worship except Allah, the Exalted. He is the One who has control over everything, and nothing is beyond His grasp. His knowledge encompasses all things

[96] The answer is that there was no reason with me, it was just my own speech, and also my knowledge was greater than that of the Children of Israel. In this verse, a better interpretation is that 'insight' means knowledge of the truth of Moses (peace be upon him), and 'following the messenger' means following Moses (peace be upon him). 'A handful' is meant to indicate minimal following, and 'casting it away' refers to abandoning the following of Moses (peace be upon him) in the manner of turning away, and the cause of this is the whisperings of the self. Another opinion, which is popular among interpreters, is that 'what they did not see' refers to the dust from under the hoof of Gabriel's horse, from which Samiri took a handful and threw it into the calf, after which it turned to flesh and began to make sounds. However, this view is based on Israeli narratives, which include seeing Gabriel (peace be upon him) by Samiri. Also, the expression often implies the effect of the hoof of the messenger's horse, and this does not fit with eloquent speech, nor is it proven that flesh was made from the calf. Therefore, it is clear that the first opinion is better. This has been written by Al-Khatib Al-Shirbini, Imam Razi, and Al-Alusi in their commentaries.
[97] It means Moses (peace be upon him) told him to separate from them and not to touch anyone, nor should anyone touch him, meaning he forbade the Children of Israel to have any association with him or speak to him. This is evidence that it is appropriate to cut ties with innovators and sinful people so that their sin does not affect others. This interpretation has been mentioned in the Tafsir al-Qurtubi. Additionally, Moses (peace be upon him) burned the calf and threw its ashes into the sea, which supports the view that it is not appropriate to benefit from something associated with polytheism.
[98] In this verse, the concept of monotheism is expressed, refuting those who had worshiped the calf. It provides evidence against associating partners in knowledge as a proof against associating partners in divinity.