2:55

Wa iz qultum yaa Moosaa lan nu'mina laka hattaa naral laaha jahratan fa akhazat
kumus saa'iqatu wa antum tanzuroon

And recall that you said, "O Moses, we will not believe in you unless we see God
plainly." Thereupon the thunderbolt struck you, as you looked on.

And (remember) when you said: "O Musa! We shall never believe in you until we see
Allah
plainly. But you were seized with a bolt of lightning while you were looking

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ASBAB AL NUZUL

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- The Best among the Children of Israel ask to see Allah; their subsequent Death
and Resurrection

Allah said, Remember My favor on you for resurrecting you after you were seized
with
lightning when you asked to see Me directly, which neither you nor anyone else can
bear or
attain. This was said by Ibn Jurayj .

- Ibn Abbas said that the Ayah

"And (remember) when you said: "O Musa We shall never believe in you until we see
Allah
plainly." means, "Publicly" "So that we gaze at Allah.

- Also, Urwah bin Ruwaym said that Allah's statement ,

"While you were looking"

means, "Some of them were struck with lightning while others were watching. Allah
resurrected those,
and struck the others with lightning. As-Suddi commented on,

"But you were seized with a bolt of lightning"

saying; "They died, and Musa stood up crying and supplicating to Allah, 'O Lord!
What should I say to the Children of Israel when I go back to them after You
destroyed the best of them

"If it had been Your will, You could have destroyed them and me before; would You
destroy us
for the deeds of the foolish ones among us"

Allah revealed to Musa that these seventy men were among those who worshipped the
calf .
Afterwards, Allah brought them back to life one man at a time, while the rest of
them were
watching how Allah was bringing them back to life. That is why Allah's said,

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TAFSIR AL TUSTARI

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Decoding the Quran

And you had said, “O Moses, we will never believe you until we see Allah outright”;
after which lightening (the knowledge of the reality to eradicate your existence)
had struck you while you were looking on.

...
[2:55] And when you said, having gone out with Moses to apologise before God for
your worship of the calf, and having heard what he had said [to you]; ‘O Moses, we
will not believe you till we see God openly’, with our own eyes; and the
thunderbolt, the shout, took you, and you died, while you were beholding, what was
happening to you.