Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: << قال فإنها محرمة عليهم أربعين سنة يتيهون في الأرض فلا تأس على القوم الفاسقين >

The Exalted Allah said: That is, regarding the Children of Israel who were commanded to fight. Is it a legal prohibition or a natural prohibition? It is a natural prohibition, as in the saying of the Exalted Allah: Meaning that prohibition can be legal, such as , and it can be natural, as in the saying of the Exalted Allah: That is, a natural prohibition. And here too, that is, a natural prohibition. Is it a solar year or a lunar year? It is lunar, because time is reckoned by the crescent moon, as the Exalted Allah said: And up to our time, it is not far off that time is reckoned by the crescent moon, to the extent that when the Jews fasted on the Day of Ashura, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) fasted it and said: . Meaning they wander, and glory to Allah, what is the distance between Egypt and the land of Sham? How much do you estimate it to be? About a month. They remained for forty years without... It is not one year, nor two years, but forty years in this small area of land, because the Exalted Allah blinded them. He blinded them, so they were deprived of this good, which is entering the Holy Land. He deprived them of it because of this stubbornness and this arrogance. They wander in the land and do not find a way. But why was the wandering specified, or why did He specify the wandering as forty years? We have two answers to this. The first answer is that such matters, whether natural or legal, that are determined by a number, cannot be known by a human in terms of their wisdom, because there is no room for the intellect in this. And much of this has passed us by: that what is determined by nature or by law leaves no room for the intellect, except for a few matters of the natural kind. The second answer, or the second aspect, is that some scholars said that they wandered for forty years, and forty years is a long period in which a new generation can grow up different from these stubborn ones. This is not far-fetched from the perspective of theory. But one might object by asking: Is this period sufficient? The answer is yes, it is sufficient. Peoples can change with the strength of the caller and the weakness of the obstacle; they can change into habits. And in how much time? Less than forty years. Depending on the strength of the motive and the scarcity of the obstacle, they change into habits or morals in this amount or less. That is, do not grieve, as the Exalted Allah said: That is, do not grieve. So do not grieve over the corrupt people regarding what Allah punished them with, because they are deserving of this punishment. And the verses have benefits, among which are: