Taha: 11

"Then when he reached it, he was called..."

That is, the fire which he perceived. As stated in some narrations from Ibn Abbas, it was in a green jujube tree—what a blessing! Abdullah ibn Mas’ud said: It was in a Samurah tree (acacia). Others said: It was in a ’Awsaj (boxthorn) tree.

Imam Ahmad in al-Zuhd, as well as ‘Abd ibn Humayd, Ibn al-Mundhir, and Ibn Abi Hatim, narrated from Wahb ibn Munabbih, who said: When Moses, peace be upon him, saw the fire, he set out walking until he stood near it. Suddenly, he beheld a great fire billowing from the leaves of a green tree—intensely green—known as al-‘Aliq (bramble). As he watched, the fire increased in magnitude and intensity, while the tree—despite the ferocity of the blaze—did not increase in anything but greenness and beauty. He stood watching, unable to grasp the nature of its affair, though he surmised it was a tree burning. He approached it to gather some firewood, but when he reached it, it burned. He supposed that what prevented the fire [from consuming the tree entirely] was the intensity of its greenness, the abundance of its moisture, the density of its leaves, and the size of its trunk. He based his understanding on this, so he stood waiting, hoping that some part of it might fall so he could take it.

When this took too long, he reached toward it with a bunch in his hand, wanting to take some of its flame. As soon as he did, it leaned toward him as if seeking him, so he drew back in fear. Then he returned and circled it; it kept drawing him in, and he kept desiring it. Then, nothing was more sudden than its extinguishing. His astonishment and wonder intensified. He said, "This is a fire that refuses to be taken; it blazes in the heart of a tree yet does not consume it, then its extinguishing is faster than the blinking of an eye, despite its greatness." When he saw that, he said, "This is a matter of great significance." He concluded that it must be commanded or created—he knew nothing of its purpose, nor what it was commanded to do, nor who made it, nor why it was made. He stood bewildered, not knowing whether to turn back or stay.

While he was in that state, he cast his gaze toward its branches, and suddenly, what was most intensely green became a light radiating into the sky, filling the darkness. The greenness began to glow, then turned yellow, then white, until it became a brilliant light, a pillar between the heavens and the earth, with rays like the sun, before which sight faltered. Every time he looked at it, it almost snatched his vision away. At that, his fear and distress intensified, so he placed his hands over his eyes and pressed himself to the earth. He heard, at that moment, something the likes of which no listener had ever heard in its majesty. When Moses, peace be upon him, reached the peak of anguish and the horror became intense, what God Almighty related occurred. It is reported that whenever he approached it, it would recede, and if he turned to leave, it would follow him. He became certain that this was a matter from God Almighty, transcendent of natural norms. He stood bewildered, hearing the glorification of the angels from the heavens, and tranquility descended upon him, and then what happened, happened.

It is said that fire is of four categories: a type that consumes but does not drink, which is the fire of the world; a type that drinks but does not consume, which is the fire of green trees; a type that consumes and drinks, which is the fire of Hell; and a type that neither consumes nor drinks, which is the fire of Moses, peace be upon him.

It is also said: There are four types—one with light and burning, which is the fire of the world; one with neither light nor burning, which is the fire of trees; one with burning but no light, which is the fire of Hell; and one with light but no burning, which is the fire of Moses, peace be upon him.

Some even said: It was not fire at all, but rather a light from the light of the Lord, blessed and exalted be He. This is narrated from Ibn Abbas—may God be pleased with both of them. It was mentioned with the word "fire" based on the assumption of Moses, peace be upon him, and there is no harm in his report reflecting his assumption, as some have imagined. Abu Hayyan favored this view, and al-Mawardi adopted it.

Sa'id ibn Jubayr said: It was fire in its true essence, and it is one of the veils of God Almighty. He supported this with what was narrated from Abu Musa al-Ash’ari from the Prophet—may God bless him and grant him peace—who said: "His veil is the fire; if He were to reveal it, the splendors of His Face would consume all of His creation that His gaze reaches." Al-Baghawi mentioned this, and it is noted in Tafsir al-Khazin that this hadith was recorded by Muslim.

The apparent meaning of the verse indicates that when he, peace be upon him, reached it, "he was called" without delay. With this, some of the Mu'tazila rejected the previous reports that suggest an interval of time between his arrival and the call. You know that an interval such as that does not contradict the aforementioned circumstances. They also claimed it is impossible for a miraculous manifestation to appear upon his arrival at the fire before he was made a prophet, unless it were a miracle for a prophet other than him. In our view, this is irhas (a pre-prophetic sign), which the Mu'tazila deny.

The apparent reading is that the one replacing the subject of "he was called" (nudiya) is the pronoun referring to Moses, peace be upon him. It is also said it refers to the verbal noun—meaning: the calling (al-nida') was called. It is also said it is His saying: "O Moses..." and this is based on considering the nida' (call) as containing the meaning of "saying" (al-qawl), intending this phrase to be the object of the sentence. Otherwise, it has been said that a sentence cannot act as a subject or a replacement for one in such a structure except through this type of interpretation. In al-Bahr, the school of the Kufans holds that "call" (nida') is treated like "saying" (qawl), while the school of the Basrans holds that "saying" is implied in such a verse—meaning: "He was called, and it was said: 'O Moses...'"