Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
Surah Al-A'raf
Surah 7 · Al-A'raf · verse 143 of 206

Quran 7:143 · Al-A'raf

وَلَمَّا جَآءَ مُوسَىٰ لِمِيقَٰتِنَا وَكَلَّمَهُۥ رَبُّهُۥ قَالَ رَبِّ أَرِنِيٓ أَنظُرۡ إِلَيۡكَۚ قَالَ لَن تَرَىٰنِي وَلَٰكِنِ ٱنظُرۡ إِلَى ٱلۡجَبَلِ فَإِنِ ٱسۡتَقَرَّ مَكَانَهُۥ فَسَوۡفَ تَرَىٰنِيۚ فَلَمَّا تَجَلَّىٰ رَبُّهُۥ لِلۡجَبَلِ جَعَلَهُۥ دَكّٗا وَخَرَّ مُوسَىٰ صَعِقٗاۚ فَلَمَّآ أَفَاقَ قَالَ سُبۡحَٰنَكَ تُبۡتُ إِلَيۡكَ وَأَنَا۠ أَوَّلُ ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنِينَ

And when Moses arrived at Our appointed time and his Lord spoke to him, he said, "My Lord, show me [Yourself] that I may look at You." [Allah] said, "You will not see Me, but look at the mountain; if it should remain in place, then you will see Me." But when his Lord appeared to the mountain, He rendered it level, and Moses fell unconscious. And when he awoke, he said, "Exalted are You! I have repented to You, and I am the first of the believers

Translation: Sahih International
Maulana’s commentary · Tazkirul Quran

Moses wanted to see God, but when he learnt that it was not possible to do so, he turned to God in repentance and reposed his faith in God, the unseen. Thus man is put to the test of believing in God without seeing Him. Seeing God is a reward reserved for the Hereafter, so how is it possible to see God in this present world? Moses received his first prophetic call on the mountainside. The next time he was again called to the mountain to receive the commands of the Torah. This is an indication that the best place to receive divine inspiration is the environment of nature rather than that of human society. Where man emerges from the hubbub of this noisy world of human beings and reaches the quiet world of the trees, mountains and rivers, he begins to feel himself closer to God. His mind is free from mundane problems; it is not preoccupied with worldly thoughts, so this is the best moment for him to think without any bias or complexes which might affect his thinking. Then he can be in true communion with God.

Maulana Wahiduddin Khan, Tazkirul Quran

Maulana explains this verse in 6 lectures2008 to 2024

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1 further citation is on a recording that is not available on YouTube at the moment, so it is not shown here. It is still counted above and included in the download.

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