وَلَمَّا وَرَدَ مَآءَ مَدْيَنَ وَجَدَ عَلَيْهِ أُمَّةًۭ مِّنَ ٱلنَّاسِ يَسْقُونَ وَوَجَدَ مِن دُونِهِمُ ٱمْرَأَتَيْنِ تَذُودَانِ ۖ قَالَ مَا خَطْبُكُمَا ۖ قَالَتَا لَا نَسْقِى حَتَّىٰ يُصْدِرَ ٱلرِّعَآءُ ۖ وَأَبُونَا شَيْخٌۭ كَبِيرٌۭ
Wa lammaa warada maaa'a Madyana wajada 'alaihi ummatam minannaasi yasqoona wa wajada min doonihimum ra ataini tazoodaani qaala maa khatubkumaa qaalataa laa nasqee hataa yusdirar ri'aaa'u wa aboonaa shaikhun kabeer
And when he came to the well of Madyan, he found there a crowd of people watering [their flocks], and he found aside from them two women driving back [their flocks]. He said, "What is your circumstance?" They said, "We do not water until the shepherds dispatch [their flocks]; and our father is an old man."

Tafsir

79%67%63%Al-JalalaynIbn AbbasIbn Kathir
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And when he arrived at the Water of Midian the name of a well therein he found a group of people there watering their flocks and he found besides them two women holding back their flock from the water. He Moses said to the two ‘What is your business?’ that is ‘What is the matter with you that you are not watering?’ They said ‘We do not water our flock until the shepherds have moved on ri‘ā’u ‘shepherds’ the plural of rā‘in that is to say until they have returned from the watering for fear of being crushed by the throng after which we go to water a variant reading for yasdiru ‘move on’ is the 4th form subjunctive yusdira ‘to drive away’ meaning until they the shepherds have driven their flocks away from the water’ and our father is a very old man’ unable to come and water.

Related Hadiths

Sahih al-Bukhari #2343Narrated Abu Bakr:Sahih
While I was on my way, all of a sudden I saw a shepherd driving his sheep, I asked him whose servant he was. He replied that he was the servant of a man from Quraish, and then he mentioned his name and I recognized him. I asked, "Do your sheep have some milk?" He replied in the affirmative. I said, "Are you going to milk for me?" He replied in the affirmative. I ordered him and he tied the legs of one of the sheep. Then I told him to clean the udder (teats) of dust and to remove dust off his hands. He removed the dust off his hands by clapping his hands. He then milked a little milk. I put the milk for Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) in a pot and closed its mouth with a piece of cloth and poured water over it till it became cold. I took it to the Prophet (ﷺ) and said, "Drink, O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)!" He drank it till I was pleased.
Sahih al-Bukhari #3240Narrated `Abdullah bin `Umar:Sahih
The people landed at the land of Thamud called Al-Hijr along with Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) and they took water from its well for drinking and kneading the dough with it as well. (When Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) heard about it) he ordered them to pour out the water they had taken from its wells and feed the camels with the dough, and ordered them to take water from the well whence the she-camel (of Prophet Salih) used to drink.
Sahih al-Bukhari #5408Narrated Jabir bin `Abdullah:Sahih
The Prophet (ﷺ) and one of his companions entered upon an Ansari man. The Prophet (ﷺ) and his companion greeted (the man) and he replied, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! Let my father and mother be sacrificed for you! It is hot," while he was watering his garden. The Prophet (ﷺ) asked him, "If you have water kept overnight in a water skin, (give us), or else we will drink by putting our mouths in the basin." The man was watering the garden The man said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! I have water kept overnight in a water-skin. He went to the shade and poured some water into a bowl and milked some milk from a domestic goat in it. The Prophet (ﷺ) drank and then gave the bowl to the man who had come along with him to drink.
Sunan Ibn Majah #3168It was narrated that Jabir bin ‘Abdullah said:Da'if
“The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) entered upon a man among the Ansar when he was watering his garden. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said to him: ‘If you have any water that has been kept overnight in a water skin, then give us some to drink, otherwise we will drink by putting out mouths in the basin.’ He said: ‘I have water that has been kept in a water skin. So he went and we went with him, to the shelter, where he milked a sheep for him and (mixed it with) the water that had been kept overnight in a water skin. He drank from it, then he did likewise for his Companion who was with him.”
Sunan an-Nasa'i #2467It was narrated that Muslim bin Thafihan said:Sahih
"Ibn 'Alqamah appointed my father to be in charge of his people, and he commanded him to collect their Sadaqah. My father sent me to a group of them to bring their Sadaqah to him. I set out and came to an old man who was called Sa'r. I said: My father has sent me to collect the Sadaqah of your sheep. 'He said: O son of my brother, how will you decode what you want to take?' I said" 'We choose, and we even measure the sheep's udders.' He said: O son of my brother, I tell you that I was in one of these mountain passes at the time of the Messenger of Allah with some sheep of mine. Two men came on a camel and said: We are the messengers of the Messengers of Allah, we come to take the Sadaqah of your sheep. I said: What do I have to give? They said: A sheep. So I went to a sheep that I knew was filled with milk and was fat, and brought it out to them. He said: This is a Shafi - a sheep that has a child or is pregnant - and the Messenger of Allah forbade us to take a Shafi'. So I went to a Mu'tat she-goat - a Mutat is one that has not given birth before, but has reached the age where it could produce young- and brought it out to them. They said: We will take it. So I lifted it up to them, and they took it with them on their camel and left."' (Daif)

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Related Ayahs

وَإِذْ وَٰعَدْنَا مُوسَىٰٓ أَرْبَعِينَ لَيْلَةًۭ ثُمَّ ٱتَّخَذْتُمُ ٱلْعِجْلَ مِنۢ بَعْدِهِۦ وَأَنتُمْ ظَٰلِمُونَ
And [recall] when We made an appointment with Moses for forty nights. Then you took [for worship] the calf after him, while you were wrongdoers.
وَإِذْ ءَاتَيْنَا مُوسَى ٱلْكِتَٰبَ وَٱلْفُرْقَانَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ
And [recall] when We gave Moses the Scripture and criterion that perhaps you would be guided.
وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِقَوْمِهِۦ يَٰقَوْمِ إِنَّكُمْ ظَلَمْتُمْ أَنفُسَكُم بِٱتِّخَاذِكُمُ ٱلْعِجْلَ فَتُوبُوٓا۟ إِلَىٰ بَارِئِكُمْ فَٱقْتُلُوٓا۟ أَنفُسَكُمْ ذَٰلِكُمْ خَيْرٌۭ لَّكُمْ عِندَ بَارِئِكُمْ فَتَابَ عَلَيْكُمْ ۚ إِنَّهُۥ هُوَ ٱلتَّوَّابُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ
And [recall] when Moses said to his people, "O my people, indeed you have wronged yourselves by your taking of the calf [for worship]. So repent to your Creator and kill yourselves. That is best for [all of] you in the sight of your Creator." Then He accepted your repentance; indeed, He is the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful.
وَإِذْ قُلْتُمْ يَٰمُوسَىٰ لَن نُّؤْمِنَ لَكَ حَتَّىٰ نَرَى ٱللَّهَ جَهْرَةًۭ فَأَخَذَتْكُمُ ٱلصَّٰعِقَةُ وَأَنتُمْ تَنظُرُونَ
And [recall] when you said, "O Moses, we will never believe you until we see Allah outright"; so the thunderbolt took you while you were looking on.
وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَىٰ لِقَوْمِهِۦٓ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَأْمُرُكُمْ أَن تَذْبَحُوا۟ بَقَرَةًۭ ۖ قَالُوٓا۟ أَتَتَّخِذُنَا هُزُوًۭا ۖ قَالَ أَعُوذُ بِٱللَّهِ أَنْ أَكُونَ مِنَ ٱلْجَٰهِلِينَ
And [recall] when Moses said to his people, "Indeed, Allah commands you to slaughter a cow." They said, "Do you take us in ridicule?" He said, "I seek refuge in Allah from being among the ignorant."
قَالُوا۟ ٱدْعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ يُبَيِّن لَّنَا مَا هِىَ ۚ قَالَ إِنَّهُۥ يَقُولُ إِنَّهَا بَقَرَةٌۭ لَّا فَارِضٌۭ وَلَا بِكْرٌ عَوَانٌۢ بَيْنَ ذَٰلِكَ ۖ فَٱفْعَلُوا۟ مَا تُؤْمَرُونَ
They said, "Call upon your Lord to make clear to us what it is." [Moses] said, "[Allah] says, 'It is a cow which is neither old nor virgin, but median between that,' so do what you are commanded."

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