When Fara’ûn had, on the 10th of Muharram, passed with his whole army, by way of water, into the fire of hell, and the children of Esrâil, who escaped them, had come out from the sea, ten hours of the day had elapsed. Till that time they had eaten nothing, and remained fasting the whole of that day; and among the Jews the 10th of Muharram is to this day set apart as a solemn fast.
After the Fara’ûnites had been drowned, they appeared on the surface of the sea, that the children of Esrâil might behold the state of their enemies, believe in the prophetic dignity of Mûsa, and in the perfection of the creator of mankind. It is said that during ten days the waves of the sea were boisterous, till they threw the corpses of Fara’ûn and of his adherents upon the shore. As the drowned people had many garments and costly articles upon their bodies, the children of Esrâil made haste to despoil them, and although Mûsa had admonished them not to be too greedy for plunder, and to be content with what they had brought away during the night of the exodus, they would not mind his words, and ceased not their efforts until at last those riches became a cause of affliction to the people through the instrumentality of Sâmeri,* as shall be narrated—if it pleaseth Allah—in its proper place.
It is related that on the 12th of Muharram, Mûsa selected Yoshua’, the son of Nûn, and sent him with twenty-four thousand men to Egypt. When they arrived in that country, they took possession of everything the Qabats had left, carried off all their movable property, and sent it to the Lord Mûsa. They also disposed of the gardens, cultivated fields, with all goods and chattels. They sold some, and retained some; they likewise appointed a Qabat to be governor of the residue of that nation, and then returned. When Yoshua’ had arrived, the children of Esrâil left the sea-shore and began to travel. They were preceded in the day by a cloud which overshadowed them, and in the night by a pillar of light that was in their vanguard, so that they marched by the aid thereof.* When they had progressed three stages from the sea-coast, they arrived in a place called Marira,* which contained bitter water; the children of Esrâil besought Mûsa to make it potable, whereon his lordship directed them by divine command to throw grass into the spring, and it became sweet. As they were marching they happened to pass near a locality inhabited by numerous A’mâlekites, who possessed some idols in the shape of cows and calves, which they worshipped. After the children of Esrâil had seen them they went to Mûsa, and opening the mouth of petition, said: ‘We ought likewise to have some statues, in the similitude of these idols, that we may adore them, and seek to approach the Lord and Omniscient Sovereign by the mediation of these figures.’ Mûsa, being highly grieved at this proposal, said: ‘Do you want another God besides Allah, who has exalted you above all the inhabitants of the world?’ The pious among the children of Esrâil wept when they heard the warning of Mûsa, and the unwise among them repented, begging to be excused, whereon Mûsa interceded, and God Almighty pardoned them. Some of the chief historians narrate that the children of Esrâil asked Mûsa, after they had been forgiven, that as the Lord of Unity had not punished them for this crime, they might be permitted to show their repentance in some way. Mûsa then prayed, and afterwards informed them that the mandate was as follows: ‘You shall go to Syria and shall conquer it. When you enter Ariha [Jericho], which is one of the towns of Syria, you shall humbly prostrate yourselves and implore the Forgiving Lord to pardon your sins, whereon you are to walk in the path of repentance and deprecation.’ The wisdom of that command being that the inhabitants of that city, who were idolators, should, on witnessing the humility, obedience, and supplications of the children of Esrâil, renounce their unhallowed customs. When the people of Mûsa arrived at the gates of Ariha, the pious among them did as they had been bidden, but the wicked exclaimed, ‘Hatti samaqatha,’ and scoffed in every possible way at the command. The meaning of the words ‘Hatti samaqatha,’ in the Nabatæan language, is ‘red wheat’; hence the Almighty sent an epidemic upon those ill-disposed people, in consequence whereof twenty-four thousand of their nobles and magnates perished in one hour. Mûsa then again prayed in concert with the pious and the religious. By the blessing of their devotions, their petitions were heard, and this affliction was removed from them. According to some histories, this catastrophe took place after the conquest of Ariha, but this opinion seems to be unfounded, because that land was subdued in the time of Yoshua’, the son of Nûn, after the children of Esrâil had ceased their wanderings, as will be narrated in these pages—if it pleaseth Allah—when the state of Ariha is to be described. The children of Esrâil were for a long time following the law of Ebrahim, and the religion of the Friend [of God], until the time when the Lord Mûsa— u. w. b., etc.—ascended Mount Sinai, at the request of the children of Esrâil, and established a new law.