Surah Taha Tafseer

قَالَ يَبْنَوُُمَّ

He (Harun) said:"O son of my mother!"

This mentioning of the mother was Harun's attempt to soften Musa's anger, because he was Musa's biological brother and they had the same parents. The mentioning of the mother here is more delicate and profound in bringing about gentleness and mildness. This is why he said,

يَبْنَوُُمَّ لَا تَأْخُذْ بِلِحْيَتِي وَلَا بِرَأْسِي

O son of my mother! Seize (me) not by my beard, nor by my head!

This was Harun's excuse to Musa for being delayed from coming to him and informing him of the great mishap that took place.

He said,

إِنِّي خَشِيتُ

Verily, I feared,

meaning, "I was afraid to come after you and inform you of this, because I thought you might accuse me of leaving them alone and causing division between them."

أَن تَقُولَ فَرَّقْتَ بَيْنَ بَنِي إِسْرَايِيلَ

lest you should say:`You have caused a division among the Children of Israel,

وَلَمْ تَرْقُبْ قَوْلِي

and you have not respected my word!

This means, "And you did not take care of what I commanded you to do when I left you in charge of them."

Ibn Abbas said,

"Harun was respectful and obedient to Musa.