قَالَ يَا ابْنَ أُمَّ لَا تَأْخُذْ بِلِحْيَتِي وَلَا بِرَأْسِي ۖ إِنِّي خَشِيتُ أَن تَقُولَ فَرَّقْتَ بَيْنَ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ وَلَمْ تَرْقُبْ قَوْلِي (94)
(20:94) Aaron said, "O son of my mother,do not seize me by my beard nor pull the hair of my head. *71 I was afraid that you might say on your return, `You sowed discord among the Israelites and did not pay due heed to my words' ! " *72
*71) See VII: 150.
*72) It can also be interpreted like this: "You did not wait for orders from me" In order to understand fully the statement of Prophet Aaron, one should read this verse along with verse 150 of Chapter VII, where he says: "Son of my mother, these people overpowered me and were going to kill me: so, let not the enemies gloat over me: do not count the among the people who have done wrong." Now if both these verses are read together, one can easily see the true picture of the event: Prophet Aaron did his utmost to stop the people from committing the sin of calf-worship, but they revolted against him and might even have killed him. Fearing a clash between them, therefore, he held his peace lest Prophet Moses, on his return, might blame him for letting the situation worsen and failing to control it effectively in his absence. The last clause of VII: 150 also gives the hint that there existed among the people a good number of the enemies of the two brothers.