قالَ ذٰلِكَ ما كُنّا نَبغِ ۚ فَارتَدّا عَلىٰ آثارِهِما قَصَصًا

He said: ‘That is what we were after!’ So they returned, retracing their footsteps.

EXEGESIS

Nabghi is actually nabghī, however the yā has been omitted in favour of the kasrah.^{‎[1]Razi, 21/481.} Here it refers to ‘what we were seeking to find’.^{‎[2]Mizan, 13/341.}

Qaṣaṣ (retracing) from qaṣṣa means to follow footsteps.^{‎[3]Tantawi, 8/551.} The word qiṣṣah (story) comes from this same root because in it one retraces events. It implies that they could not find the place again except by following back their footsteps or some other signs they had seen on the way.

EXPOSITION

As soon as the young lad told Moses (a) what happened to the fish, he realised that was the sign they were after. It is not clear what that sign was. Although, as we mentioned, some said it was the fish coming to life, or them losing their food, or the young lad forgetting the fish, or them forgetting their food … but perhaps it was simply them witnessing something strange and out of the ordinary. In any case, they quickly retraced their footsteps to the rock at which they had rested.

[1] Razi, 21/481.
[2] Mizan, 13/341.
[3] Tantawi, 8/551.