فَٱنطَلَقَا حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَآ أَتَيَآ أَهْلَ قَرْيَةٍ ٱسْتَطْعَمَآ أَهْلَهَا فَأَبَوْا۟ أَن يُضَيِّفُوهُمَا فَوَجَدَا فِيهَا جِدَارًا يُرِيدُ أَن يَنقَضَّ فَأَقَامَهُۥ ۖ قَالَ لَوْ شِئْتَ لَتَّخَذْتَ عَلَيْهِ أَجْرًا
Fantalaqaa hattaaa izaaa atayaaa ahla qaryatinis tat'amaaa ahlahaa fa abaw any yudaiyifoohumaa fawajadaa feehaa jidaarany yureedu any yanqadda fa aqaamah; qaala law shi'ta lattakhazta 'alaihi ajraa
Następnie wyruszyli w drogę. Aż kiedy przybyli do pewnego miasta, poprosili jego mieszkańców o jedzenie. Lecz ci odmówili ugoszczenia ich. Obydwaj znaleźli zatem mur, który groził zawaleniem się, i sługa postawił go prosto. Powiedział Mojżesz: "Gdybyś chciał, to wziąłbyś za to zapłatę."
So they journeyed on, until they came to the people of a town and asked them for food, but they refused to host them. There they found a wall about to collapse, and he set it upright. Musa said, "If you had wished, you could have taken payment for this."
Arabic lets the wall carry a verb of wanting, since it intends to fall, and commentators have long paused over intention attributed to stone. Musa's third objection costs nobody anything, which sets it apart from the first two: a town that refused them food has its wall set upright for free, and what he raises is the missing wage. He had promised one verse earlier to ask nothing further.