94 Preface قالَ يَا ابنَ أُمَّ لا تَأخُذ بِلِحيَتي وَلا بِرَأسي ۖ إِنّي خَشيتُ أَن تَقولَ فَرَّقتَ بَينَ بَني إِسرائيلَ وَلَم تَرقُب قَوليYusuf Ali(Aaron) replied: “O son of my mother! Seize (me) not by my beard nor by (the hair of) my head!1 Truly I feared lest thou shouldst say, ?Thou has caused a division among the children of Israel, and thou didst not respect my word!?”2Cf. 7:150.This reply of Aaron’s is in no way inconsistent with the reply as noted in 7:150. On the contrary, there is a dramatic aptness in the different points emphasised on each occasion. In S. 7 we were discussing the Ummah of Israel, and Aaron rightly says: “The people did indeed reckon me as naught, and went near to slay me!” In adding, “Let not the enemies rejoice over my misfortune” he is referring by implication to his brother’s wish to maintain unity among the people. Here the unity is the chief point to emphasise: we are dealing with the Samiri as mischief-monger, and he could best be dealt with by Moses, who proceeds to do so.