The Quran

وَإِذ قالَ موسىٰ لِقَومِهِ يا قَومِ إِنَّكُم ظَلَمتُم أَنفُسَكُم بِاتِّخاذِكُمُ العِجلَ فَتوبوا إِلىٰ بارِئِكُم فَاقتُلوا أَنفُسَكُم ذٰلِكُم خَيرٌ لَكُم عِندَ بارِئِكُم فَتابَ عَلَيكُم ۚ إِنَّهُ هُوَ التَّوّابُ الرَّحيمُ

Muhammad Asad

and when Moses said unto his people: "O my people! Verily, you have sinned against yourselves by worshipping the calf; turn, then in repentance to your Maker and mortify yourselves;¹ this will be the best for you in your Maker's sight." And thereupon He accepted your repentance: for, behold, He alone is the Acceptor of Repentance, the Dispenser of Grace.

Lit., "kill yourselves" or, according to some commentators, "kill one another". This literal interpretation (probably based on the Biblical account in Exodus xxxii, 26-28) is not, however, convincing in view of the immediately preceding call to repentance and the subsequent statement that this repentance was accepted by God. I incline, therefore, to the interpretation given by 'Abd al-Jabbar (quoted by Razi in his commentary on this verse) to the effect that the expression "kill yourselves" is used here in a metaphorical sense (majazan), i.e., "mortify yourselves".