69 Preface يا أَيُّهَا الَّذينَ آمَنوا لا تَكونوا كَالَّذينَ آذَوا موسىٰ فَبَرَّأَهُ اللَّهُ مِمّا قالوا ۚ وَكانَ عِندَ اللَّهِ وَجيهًاYusuf AliO ye who believe! Be ye not like those who vexed and insulted Moses,1 but God cleared him of the (calumnies) they had uttered: and he was honourable in God’s sight.The people of Moses often vexed him and rebelled against him and against God’s Law. Here the reference seems to be to Num. 12:1-15. It is there said that Moses’s own sister Miriam and his brother Aaron spoke against Moses because Moses had married an Ethiopian woman. God cleared Moses of the charge of having done anything wrong: “My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house.” Miriam was afflicted with leprosy for seven days as a punishment, after which she was forgiven, as also was Aaron. This is the Old Testament story. The holy Prophet was also attacked because of his marriage with Zainab bint Jaḥsh, but not by his own circle; his motives were of the highest and were completely vindicated as we have seen above.