Surah Al-A'raf
وَٱتَّخَذَ قَوْمُ مُوسَىٰ مِنۢ بَعْدِهِۦ مِنْ حُلِيِّهِمْ عِجْلًا جَسَدًا لَّهُۥ خُوَارٌ ۚ أَلَمْ يَرَوْا۟ أَنَّهُۥ لَا يُكَلِّمُهُمْ وَلَا يَهْدِيهِمْ سَبِيلًا ۘ ٱتَّخَذُوهُ وَكَانُوا۟ ظَـٰلِمِينَ
Wattakhaża mūsā mim ba‘dihī min ḥuliyyihim ‘ijlan jasadal lahū khuwār(un), alam yarau annahū lā yukallimuhum wa lā yahdīhim sabīlā(n), ittakhażūhu wa kānū ẓālimīn(a).
And the people of Moses made, after [his departure], from their ornaments a calf - an image having a lowing sound. Did they not see that it could neither speak to them nor guide them to a way? They took it [for worship], and they were wrongdoers.
📝 Footnotes
285) They fashioned a calf statue from gold. According to some commentators (mufassir), the sound resembling a cow's lowing was caused by gusts of wind entering the hollow spaces of the statue, utilizing a technique known to Samiri at the time. Others interpret that the statue literally transformed into a living, animate cow's body that emitted sounds.