Tafsir Ibn Abbas: Al-Baqara, Ayah 71
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He said ‘He says she shall be a cow not broken not subdued for labour that is to plough the earth churning its soil for sowing tuthīr al-ard the clause describes the word dhalūl and constitutes part of the negation; or to water the tillage that is the land prepared for sowing; one safe from faults and the effects of toil; with no blemish of a colour other than her own on her’. They said ‘Now you have brought the truth’ that is now you have explained it clearly; they thus sought it out and found it with a boy very dutiful towards his mother and they eventually purchased it for the equivalent of its weight in gold; and so they sacrificed her even though they very nearly did not on account of its excessive cost. In a hadīth it is stated that ‘Had they sacrificed any cow it would have sufficed them but they made it difficult for themselves and so God made it difficult for them’.
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Ibn Abbas Commentary
((Moses) answered: Lo! He saith: Surely she is a cow unyoked) unfettered; (she plougheth not the soil) she is not subjugated for the ploughing of the soil (nor watereth the tilth) nor for carrying water to irrigate it; (whole) free from any blemish (and without mark) spots or flecks of white. (They said: now thou bringest the Truth) now we know the cow's right description. They looked for it and bought her in exchange for her weight in gold. (So they sacrificed her, though almost they did not) i.e. initially; as it is said because the cow was hugely expensive.