And when Moses came to Our appointed time
(i.e., to the time We appointed, meaning the completion of the forty nights). The "lam" denotes specification, as in His, the Almighty’s, saying: *“At the decline of the sun”* (li-duluki al-shams). According to some grammarians, it carries the meaning of "at" (inda).
And his Lord spoke to him: Directly, without an intermediary, through letter and sound. Even so, it does not resemble the speech of created beings, and there is no impropriety in this, as We clarified in the fourth benefit. This is the path taken by the righteous predecessors (al-salaf al-salih). Al-Bazzar, Ibn Abi Hatim, Abu Nu'aym in al-Hilya, and al-Bayhaqi in al-Asma' wa al-Sifat recorded from Jabir that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When Allah Almighty spoke to Moses on the day of the Mount (al-Tur), He spoke to him with a speech different from that with which He addressed him on the day He called him. Moses said to Him, 'O Lord, is this Your speech with which You spoke to me?' He said, 'O Moses, I spoke to you with the power of ten thousand tongues, and I have the power of all tongues, and I am more powerful than that.' When Moses returned to the Children of Israel, they said, 'O Moses, describe to us the speech of the All-Merciful.' He said, 'You cannot bear it. Have you not heard the sound of the thunderbolts that come in the sweetest melody you have ever heard? That is close to it, but it is not it.'"
Ibn al-Mundhir, Ibn Abi Hatim, and al-Hakim (who authenticated it) recorded from Abu al-Huwayrith 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Mu'awiyah that he said: "Allah Almighty spoke to Moses only according to what he could bear of His speech; had He spoken with His entire speech, nothing would have been able to bear it." Others recorded from Ka'b that he said: "When Allah Almighty spoke to Moses, He spoke to him with all tongues, so he began to say, 'O Lord, I do not understand,' until He spoke to him at the end with his own tongue, with a sound like his own." They also recorded from Ibn Ka'b al-Qurazi that he said: "It was said to Moses (peace be upon him), 'What have you likened the speech of your Lord to among created things?' He replied, 'To the still thunder.'" Al-Daylami recorded from Abu Hurayrah (in a marfu' form): "When my brother Moses went to discourse with his Lord, He spoke to him twelve hundred words; the first He spoke to him in was Berber."
It is related from al-Ash'ari that Moses (peace be upon him) heard the essential speech (al-kalam al-nafsi) subsisting in the Essence of Allah, and what he heard was not restricted to a direction. Interpreting this as "actual hearing" is problematic given the reports indicating the contrary. The apparent view is that if this attribution is correct, it is a position from which he receded back to the doctrine of the Salaf, whose belief he clearly stated in al-Ibana.
"He said, 'My Lord, show me [Yourself]'": Meaning, Your Essence or Your Self. The second object is omitted because it is understood and was not explicitly stated out of reverence.
"That I may look at You": This is in the jussive mood as the response to the request. It has been problematized by the fact that vision (ru'yah) is caused by looking (nazar) and subsequent to it, as the act of looking implies: "I looked at him, so I saw him." The resolution is that "looking" is the turning of the pupil toward a thing in order to seek its vision, while "vision" is the perception by the visual sense after that turning. How then can "looking" be the response to a request for "vision," when it is a cause of it? This reverses the issue.
The answer is that what is meant by "show me" (al-ira'ah) is not the creation of vision, but rather the enabling of it absolutely—or through manifestation and appearance—which precedes looking and is the cause of it. Thus, the speech mentions the implied cause (the looking) while desiring the result (the vision); meaning, "Enable me to see You, or manifest Yourself to me, so that I may look at You and see You."
"He said": This is a narrative opening, as if it were said: "What did the Lord of Might say when Moses (peace be upon him) said that?" So it was said: "You will not see Me": Meaning, you lack the capacity to see Me while you remain in your current state. This is a negation of the requested vision in the most perfect manner.
"But look at the mountain": This is a rectifying clause to explain that he (peace be upon him) could not bear the vision. The mountain meant is Mount Sinai, as stated in more than one report. In the Tafsir of al-Khazin and others, it is named Zubayr.
"If it remains in its place": And is not crushed by the manifestation, "then you will see Me": When I manifest to you.
"And when his Lord manifested Himself to the mountain": Meaning, He appeared to it in a manner befitting His Majesty, after having made it capable of perceiving that. "He made it dust": Meaning, crushed and crumbled. "Dakk" and "daq" (crushing) are cognates, like "shakk" and "shaqq" (doubting and splitting). Our teacher al-Kurani stated that the mountain is included among the things that glorify the praises of Allah by the text, “And there is not a thing but glorifies His praise,” which—when strictly analyzed—is to be taken literally, implying that it is alive and perceiving with a life and perception befitting its realm and state of being. Others said: This is a metaphor for the appearance of His power, the Almighty, and the connection of His will to what He did to the mountain, not that there was an actual manifestation. This is similar to what was established regarding His saying, “He only says to it, ‘Be,’ and it is,” that it means what He decrees and wills to exist enters into existence without delay, not that there is speech. The author of al-Fawa'id countered that this meaning is not understood from the verse because "tajalla" (manifested) is the reflexive form of "jallaytuhu" (I made it appear). He said: "I made it appear, so it appeared," and it cannot be interpreted as "His power manifested" because that is contrary to the principle, and such an interpretation is far removed from the intended meaning.
Ahmad, 'Abd ibn Humayd, al-Tirmidhi, al-Hakim (who authenticated it), al-Bayhaqi, and others recorded through various paths from Anas ibn Malik that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) read this verse: "And when his Lord manifested Himself to the mountain," etc., and said: "Like this," and he signaled with his two fingers, placing the tip of his thumb on the joint of his little finger, or in one wording, on the upper joint of the little finger, and the mountain crumbled.
Ibn 'Abbas said: "Nothing of Him—the Almighty—manifested to the mountain except the size of the little finger, and He turned it to dust." As is not hidden, this is among the mutashabihat (ambiguous matters), in which one follows the path of submission, which is safer and wiser, or [interprets] it in a manner befitting the majesty of His Essence.
Hamzah and al-Kisa'i read dakkan (with a long vowel), meaning "level earth." From this is their saying, "a dakka she-camel," for one whose hump has not risen. Yahya ibn Wathab read dukkan (with a damma on the dal and tanwin), a plural of dakka like humr and hamra', meaning "pieces"; thus it is an adjective of a plural. In Abu Hayyan’s Sharh al-Tashil, it is treated as a noun, thus it is treated as masculine.
"And Moses fell": Meaning, he dropped from the horror of what he saw. Some distinguish between suqut (falling) and khurur (falling down), saying the former is absolute, while the latter is a fall that has a sound, like the sound of water falling (kharir).
"Unconscious": Meaning, stunned and shouting from the sa'qah (thunderclap/shock). The meaning is that he fell into a swoon, according to Ibn 'Abbas and al-Hasan (may Allah be pleased with them), and dead, according to Qatadah.
It is related that he remained in that state for a week. According to Ibn 'Abbas, the swoon took him from the evening of Thursday, the Day of 'Arafah, until the evening of Friday. Some storytellers related that the angels would pass by him then and poke him with their feet, saying, "O son of women who menstruate, you coveted the vision of the Lord of Might?" This is a debased statement that cannot be relied upon in any way, for the angels (peace be upon them) must be absolved from insulting the Interlocutor (al-Kalim) by poking with feet or using harsh speech.
"And when he recovered": By returning to his state prior to that, either through the return of his soul, as Qatadah said, or the return of understanding and senses, as others said. It is well known that "recovery" (ifaqah) is the return of reason and understanding to a person after they have departed due to some cause; one does not say of a dead person whose soul has returned that he "recovered." That is only said of one who has fainted. Hence, the majority chose what the scholar [Ibn 'Abbas] said.
"He said": In reverence of the affair of Allah the Almighty.
"Exalted are You": Meaning, You are far removed from resembling Your creation in anything, or from anyone establishing [proof] for Your vision while in the state he was in before, or from my asking You something without Your permission.
"I have repented to You": From proceeding to ask without permission. It is said: From the vision of my own existence and inclining toward my own will. "And I am the first of the believers": In Your greatness and majesty, or that no one sees You in this world so as to remain [in their state] as was said and intended. As al-Kurani said, he was the first to believe that with a "tasting" (dhawq) preceded by the certainty of vision (ayn al-yaqin) in his view. Others said: He meant the first of the believers that it is not permissible to ask without Your permission.
The Sunnis, who permit the vision of the Almighty, used this verse as evidence for its general possibility, while the Mutazila, who negate it, used it for the opposite. War raged between them. In summary, the Sunnis said: The verse indicates the possibility of vision from two aspects:
First, Moses (peace be upon him) asked for it, saying: "My Lord, show me," etc. If it were impossible, and Moses (peace be upon him) knew of the impossibility, then a rational person—let alone a Prophet, and let alone one of the Messengers of Resolution (ulu al-'azm)—would not ask for or seek the impossible. And if he did not know that, then it would imply that an ordinary Mutazili who obtained a portion of their sciences would be more knowledgeable of Allah Almighty and what is and is not permissible regarding Him than the chosen Prophet. To say this is the height of ignorance and insolence. Since the claim of impossibility is invalidated, the claim of possibility is confirmed.
Second, it contains the suspension of vision upon the mountain's remaining, which is possible in itself, and what is suspended upon the possible is possible.
The opponents objected to the first aspect in several ways:
- They do not concede that Moses (peace be upon him) asked for vision, but rather asked for necessary knowledge of the Almighty, expressing it as "vision" metaphorically because of the entailment between them.
- They concede he asked for vision, but say it was the vision of one of the "signs of the Hour," through the omission of the added noun (idafah).
- They concede he asked for the vision of Allah Himself, but it was not for himself, rather to repel his people who said, "Show us Allah outright."
- They argue it does not negate knowledge of the impossibility, as the intent of asking was to know the impossibility through an auditory proof added to his rational proof for the sake of emphasis.
- Even if it negates knowledge of impossibility, he may not have known it, and this does not impugn his prophethood.
- Even if it is forbidden in his law, why could it not be a minor sin?
- Minor sins are not impossible for Prophets.
They spoke on the second aspect from two sides:
- The suspension was not upon the mountain remaining while it was still, but while it was moving, which is impossible in itself.
- Even if it is possible, that which is suspended upon the possible is not necessarily possible.
The conclusion is that the Sunni position is logically grounded and the objections raised by the opponents fallacious, as the verse explicitly shows the possibility of vision in this realm, and the interpretation of the scholars who followed the path of "accepting without asking how" (bila kayf) is the most guarded and accurate, or interpreting it in a manner befitting His Majesty. As for the spiritual/mystical interpretation of the passage, it reflects a deep realization of the nature of the seeker and the Sought.
