وَلَمَّا سَكَتَ عَنْ مُوسَى الْغَضَبُ أَخَذَ الْأَلْوَاحَ وَفِي نُسْخَتِهَا هُدًى وَرَحْمَةٌ لِلَّذِينَ هُمْ لِرَبِّهِمْ يَرْهَبُونَ ﴿۱۵۴﴾ وَاخْتَارَ مُوسَى قَوْمَهُ سَبْعِينَ رَجُلًا لِمِيقَاتِنَا فَلَمَّا أَخَذَتْهُمُ الرَّجْفَةُ قَالَ رَبِّ لَوْ شِئْتَ أَهْلَكْتَهُمْ مِنْ قَبْلُ وَإِيَّايَ أَتُهْلِكُنَا بِمَا فَعَلَ السُّفَهَاءُ مِنَّا إِنْ هِيَ إِلَّا فِتْنَتُكَ تُضِلُّ بِهَا مَنْ تَشَاءُ وَتَهْدِي مَنْ تَشَاءُ أَنْتَ وَلِيُّنَا فَاغْفِرْ لَنَا وَارْحَمْنَا وَأَنْتَ خَيْرُ الْغَافِرِينَ ﴿۱۵۵﴾

﴾154﴿ Wa lammaa sakata 'an Moosal ghadabu akhazal alwaaha wa fee nuskhatihaa hudanw wa rahmatul lil lazeena hum li Rabbihim yarhaboon
﴾155﴿ Wakhtaara Moosaa qawmahoo sab'eena rajulal li meeqaatinaa falammaa akhazat humur rajfatu qaala Rabbi law shi'ta ahlaktahum min qablu wa iyyaay; 'a tuhlikuna bimaa fa'alas sufahaaa'u minna in hiya illaa fitnatuka tudillu bihaa man tashaaa'u wa tahdee man tashaaa; Anta waliyyunaa faghfir lanaa warhamnaa wa Anta khairul ghaafireen

﴾154﴿ And when the anger of Musa (peace be upon him) subsided, he took up the tablets; and in their writing was guidance and mercy for those people who fear their Lord.
﴾155﴿ And Musa (peace be upon him) chose seventy men from his people for Our appointed time. Then, when the earthquake seized them, he said, “O my Lord! If You had willed, You could have destroyed them and me before this. Will You destroy us for what the foolish among us have done? This is nothing but Your trial—by it, You lead astray whom You will and guide whom You will. You are our Protector, so forgive us and have mercy on us, and You are the best of those who forgive.”

[154] This verse is evidence that the tablets which Musa (peace be upon him) had set down were all taken back by him, which shows that none of them were broken. This is because, in most cases, a definite noun that is mentioned again refers to the same object as before—so the second is exactly the same as the first. Therefore, the tablets he took back were the very same ones he had placed down.
Sukūn refers to calmness or the cessation of anger, so it can be used to describe the state after anger has subsided. Sakt means silence or refraining from speech, which is not the intended meaning here.
(يَرْهَبُونَ) – This points to the idea that reverence (awe) is a reason or motivation for benefiting from the Book of Allah.
(نُسْخَتِهَا) – Indicates that a written form of the Book was given to Musa (peace be upon him), meaning that he was given written tablets (alwāḥ).
[155] From this verse onward to verse 168, it discusses the sixth station, which includes the second appointed meeting (mīqāt), the descent of punishment, the supplication of Musa (peace be upon him), descriptions of the final Prophet, mention of his Prophethood, and a reminder of both blessings and punishments.
The reason for this earthquake is mentioned in verse 55 of Surah Al-Baqarah. The lightning struck them from above, and the earthquake came from below—or the term rajfah (trembling) may refer to the hearts being shaken due to the lightning strike.
(قَوْمَهُ) – The preposition "min" is implied here, or sab‘īn (seventy) may be an explanatory apposition or substitute for qawmuhu (his people), so using min is not strictly necessary.
(لِمِيقَاتِنَا) – This second appointed time was to teach the method of repentance from calf worship.
(لَوْ شِئْتَ أَهْلَكْتَهُمْ) – The intent is to say: “You protected them from destruction before, so now also protect them from permanent destruction”—in other words, this is a plea for their revival.
(بِمَا فَعَلَ السُّفَهَاءُ) – This was the judgment of Musa (peace be upon him), attributing the punishment to those who actually committed calf worship. Or, the term sufahā’ (foolish ones) may refer to some among the seventy who had asked to see Allah, and the others remained silent about it—so the punishment fell upon all of them.