The Samiri
السامري
The Samiri misleads people with a calf during Moses’ absence.
Identified as al-Samiri; no personal name is given.
The story through its verses
Read continuously: every passage is already open and arranged in narrative order.
A people tested
Allah tells Moses the Samiri led them astray.
قَالَ فَإِنَّا قَدْ فَتَنَّا قَوْمَكَ مِنۢ بَعْدِكَ وَأَضَلَّهُمُ ٱلسَّامِرِىُّ
Allah said, “We have certainly tested your people in your absence, and Sāmiri[25] has led them astray.”
The calf produced
He produces a calf-shaped body with a lowing sound.
فَأَخْرَجَ لَهُمْ عِجْلًا جَسَدًا لَّهُۥ خُوَارٌ فَقَالُوا۟ هَـٰذَآ إِلَـٰهُكُمْ وَإِلَـٰهُ مُوسَىٰ فَنَسِىَ
Then he molded for them an image of a calf that made a mooing sound. They said, “This is your god and Moses’ god, but he has forgotten.”
Moses confronts him
The Samiri explains his act and Moses destroys the object.
قَالَ فَمَا خَطْبُكَ يَـٰسَـٰمِرِىُّ
Moses said, “What is the matter with you, O Sāmiri?”
قَالَ بَصُرْتُ بِمَا لَمْ يَبْصُرُوا۟ بِهِۦ فَقَبَضْتُ قَبْضَةً مِّنْ أَثَرِ ٱلرَّسُولِ فَنَبَذْتُهَا وَكَذَٰلِكَ سَوَّلَتْ لِى نَفْسِى
He said, “I saw something they did not see, so I took a handful [of dust] from the hoof-print of the horse of the messenger [Gabriel] and cast it [into the fire][30]. This is what my mind prompted me.”
قَالَ فَٱذْهَبْ فَإِنَّ لَكَ فِى ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ أَن تَقُولَ لَا مِسَاسَ ۖ وَإِنَّ لَكَ مَوْعِدًا لَّن تُخْلَفَهُۥ ۖ وَٱنظُرْ إِلَىٰٓ إِلَـٰهِكَ ٱلَّذِى ظَلْتَ عَلَيْهِ عَاكِفًا ۖ لَّنُحَرِّقَنَّهُۥ ثُمَّ لَنَنسِفَنَّهُۥ فِى ٱلْيَمِّ نَسْفًا
Moses said, “Begone then! Your [punishment] in this life will be to say, ‘Do not touch me,’[31] but there awaits you an appointed time for your reckoning that you cannot escape[32]. Now look at your so-called god which you kept worshiping; We will surely burn it and then scatter it in the sea.
Later identifications are not Quranic facts.