Topic: Sinai

2:48, 123; 5:21; 14:7.

Important Words:

اسرائیل (Israel) is another name of Jacob, son of Isaac. This name was bestowed by God on Jacob later in life (Gen. 32:28). The original Hebrew word is a compound one made up of یسرا and ایل and means: (a) God’s prince; (b) God’s warrior; (c) God’s soldier (Concordance by Cruden and Hebrew-English Lexicon by W. Gesenius). The name Israel is used to convey three different senses: (1) Jacob personally (Gen. 32:28); (2) progeny of Jacob (Deut. 6:3, 4); (3) any righteous and God-fearing person or people (Hebrew-English Lexicon).

اذکروا (remember) is derived from ذکر meaning: (1) he spoke of (2) he remembered, i.e. called to mind; (3) he kept in memory. Thus ذکر (remembrance) may either be with the tongue or with the mind or heart (Aqrab & Mufradat).

عھد (covenant). The word عھد gives a number of meanings. عھدالیه means, he enjoined him; he put on him a responsibility; he made a covenant with him. عھدالحرمة means, he observed and protected the sanctity of a thing. عھد زیدا بمکان کذا means, he met Zaid at such and such a place. العھد means, an injunction; a commandment; a responsibility; a covenant; a promise; fulfilment of a promise; an oath; observance of the sanctity of a thing; protection; meeting with a person or thing; etc. (Lane & Aqrab). In the present verse عھدی does not mean, My part of the covenant, because the Israelites could not be asked to fulfil what God had promised. It means, the covenant you made with Me. Similarly عھدکم means, My covenant with you and not your covenant with Me.

فارھبون (Me should you fear) is really a combination of three words, i.e. ف (so) and ارھبوا (you should fear) and ن (Me), the last named being originally نی. Added to the preceding word إیای (Me) the clause receives a sort of triple emphasis.

Commentary:

In the preceding verse the Quran, by a reference to Adam, draws the reader’s attention to the fact that God has been sending down His revelation from the very beginning and that evil-minded people have always opposed such revelation and that thus the Quranic revelation and the hostility of some people towards it are not to be wondered at.

In the present verse God addresses the Israelites in order to point to the fact that the revelation has not been confined to the beginning of the world but has been sent down repeatedly, as and when required, and that a very good example of this repetition is to be met with in the history of the Israelites. Side by side with this reference to the Israelites, it is also pointed out that even the Israelites have now lost God’s favour by failing to fulfil His covenant and that God has, therefore, now decided to choose a new people for His favour. Another reason why the Israelites have been mentioned here is that, being the last people to receive the favours of God before Islam, they are more answerable to Him than any other people.

As to the question that naturally arises here, why God addresses the Jews in this verse as "the children of Israel" and not as "the children of Jacob" or simply as "the Jews", it may be stated that Israel, being the name given to Jacob by God Himself, has been preferred to the name Jacob which was apparently given him by his parents. Moreover, Israel, being an attributive name meaning "God’s warrior", has been chosen to remind the Jews that, being the children of a great soldier of God, they should also behave like brave men and, throwing aside all petty considerations, should come forward and accept the Prophet whom God has raised for their own good. The form یا بنی اسرائیل (O ye children of Israel), is similar to addressing a man as یا ابن الکریم (O you the son of a noble man), which expression we use when we wish to appeal to him to show nobility and generosity just as his noble father before him used to do.

As to the other name "Jews", it may be noted that both "Israel" and "Jews" are attributive names which have come to be used as proper names. Where the Quran desires to refer to the followers of Moses as a community descended from one common ancestor, it speaks of them as "children of Israel", and where it desires to refer to them as a religious unit it uses the name "Jews", the word ھود or یھود derived from ھاد meaning a people that turn to God or to the truth with repentance. Or, as some people have thought, یھود is derived from (Judah) who was one of the sons of Jacob. As Judah’s descendants together with those of his brother, Benjamin, constituted the kingdom of Judah at Jerusalem, as opposed to that of the remaining ten tribes of Israel, collectively known as Israel, and, as Jerusalem became the religious centre of the Jews, the Jewish religion came to be known as Judaism and the people professing that religion as یھود or Jews (Enc. Brit. under Jews).

The "favours" spoken of in the verse include both spiritual and temporal favours, of both of which the Israelites had their share. Says the Quran: And remember when Moses said to his people, 'O my people, call to mind Allah’s favour upon you when He appointed Prophets among you and made you kings' (5:21). This verse makes it clear that the highest spiritual favour is prophethood and the highest temporal favour is kingship and both these favours were bestowed on the Israelites. The facts of history bear out that assertion.

The words اوفوا بعھدی اوف بعھدکم have been rendered in the text as, fulfil your covenant with Me, I will fulfil My covenant with you, but perhaps a simpler rendering would be, "fulfil My commandments, 1 will fulfil the promise I made to you". As for the covenant spoken of in this verse, we read in the Quran that, when Abraham enquired of God whether the promise which He had made to him about making him an Imam or leader of the people applied to his posterity also, God said, My covenant does not embrace the transgressors (2:125) which implied that the covenant applied only to the righteous children of Abraham.

The Bible also refers to this covenant in Gen. 17:4-14 where God says to Abraham, "As for me, behold my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations...And I will make thee exceeding fruitful and I will make nations of thee and kings shall come out of thee…This is my covenant which ye shall keep between me and you and thy seed after thee; every man child among you shall be circumcised. And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you…And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circum­cised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant." The circum­cision here spoken of is treated as a symbol of spiritual purification in the Scriptures (Lev. 26:41 & Jer. 4:3, 4; 9:25). The Jews retained the outward form of the rite of circumcision but neglected the inner spirit, while Christians neglected both.

After Abraham the covenant was renewed with the Israelites. This second covenant is mentioned in the Bible in several places (Exod. 20; Deut. Chaps. 5, 18, 26). God gave Moses on Mount Sinai (or Horeb as it is called in Deut.) the Ten Commandments and made a covenant with the Israelites (Deut. 5:2, 3). They were commanded to keep this covenant thus: "Ye shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you and that ye may prolong your days in the land ye shall possess" (Deut. 5:33). And again "Thou (O Israel!) hast avouched the Lord this day to be thy God and to walk in His ways, and to keep His statutes, and His commandments, and His judgements, and to hearken unto His voice: and the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be His peculiar people as He has promised thee, and that thou shouldst keep all His commandments" (Deut. 26:17, 18).

When the covenant was being made and the glory of God was manifesting itself on Mount Sinai, the Israelites were so terrified to see "the thunderings and the lightnings and the noise of the trumpet and the mountain smoking" (Exod. 20:18) that accompanied this manifestation that they exclaimed to Moses, saying: "Speak thou with us and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die" (Exod. 20:19). These words sealed the fate of the Israelites; for thereupon God said to Moses that, though the Israelites would be blessed as long as they acted upon the commandments revealed through him, in future no Law-giving Prophet, just as he was, would appear among them. Such a Prophet—a Law-giving Prophet like unto him—would in future appear from among the brethren of the Israelites, i.e. the Ishmaelites. Says Moses: "And the Lord said unto me, they have well-spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and I will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him (Deut. 18:18, 19).

In the foregoing verses, the Israelites are told that as they themselves refused to listen to the word of God, the next Law-giving Prophet will be raised not from among them, but from among their brethren. Prophets were indeed raised among the Israelites even after Moses as the Quran itself testifies (2:88), but the Prophet that was to be "like Moses", i.e. a Law-giving Prophet, was not raised from among them in accordance with the prophecy quoted above.

The prophecy clearly stated that the next Law-giving Prophet was to be from among the "brethren" of the Israelites. Now as the Ishmaelites are the "brethren" of the Israelites, it was from among them that the Holy Prophet of Islam appeared. This is quite in conformity with the promise which was first made to Abraham himself (2:130).

It is wrong to say that the words "of thy brethren" may refer to the Israelites themselves; for at the time of Moses all the tribes of Israel were living together, and if the Promised Prophet was to appear from among them, it could in no sense be right to say that the Lord would raise up a Prophet from among the "brethren" of the Israelites. Neither can the prophecy apply to Jesus who, besides not being a Law-giving Prophet (Matt. 5:17, 18), was an Israelite and not an Ishmaelite. The prophecy was clearly fulfilled in the Holy Prophet of Arabia, who was an Ishmaelite and, like Moses, a Law-giving Prophet.

It has been objected that elsewhere the Bible speaking of this prophecy, uses the words "from the midst of thee, of thy brethren," which shows that the words apply to the Israelites themselves. But this inference is clearly wrong; for, firstlythe words "from the midst of thee" are not God’s words but only those of Moses (Deut. 18:15), whereas the words "from among thy brethren" are God’s own words (Deut. 18:18); and as the prophecy is based on God’s revelation and not on Moses’ interpretation, the former must be assumed to be more correct. Secondly, even if we take the words "from the midst of thee, of thy brethren," to be correctly based on God’s revelation, then also these words may be taken to apply to the Holy Prophet of Islam, for he, having been sent to all nations, may truly be looked upon as having been raised amidst each and every people of the world. In this case the words "from the midst of thee, of thy brethren" would be interpreted to give a twofold meaning: (1) that the Promised Prophet would be raised for all the nations of the world, including the Israelites; and (2) that personally he would belong to the Ishmaelites.

As the Jews repeatedly broke God’s covenant, it was transferred to the Holy Prophet and his followers. Says God in the Quran: (Moses prayed to God, saying,) Ordain for us good in this world, as well as in the next; we have turned to Thee with repentance. God replied, I will inflict My punishment on whom I will; but My mercy encompasses all things; so I will ordain it for those who act righteously, and pay the Zakah and those who believe in Our Signs—those who follow the Messenger, the Prophet, the immaculate one, whom they find mentioned in the Torah and the Gospel which are with them (7:157, 158).

The mention of the Holy Prophet in the Bible is to be found in Deut. 18 wherein the Israelites are exhorted to accept the Promised Prophet so that they may receive mercy.

Again, the Quran says: And remember the time when Allah took a covenant from the people through the Prophets: Saying, whatever I give you of the Book and Wisdom and then there comes to you a Messenger fulfilling what is with you, you shall believe in him and help him, and He said, Do you agree and do you accept the responsibility which I lay upon you in this matter? They said, We agree; He said, Then bear witness and I am with you among the witnesses(3:82).

From what has been said above it is clear that in the words, and fulfil your covenant with Me, I will fulfil My covenant with you, God reminds the children of Israel that He had made a covenant with Isaac and his seed after him to the effect that if they fulfilled their covenant with Him and obeyed all His behests, He would continue to bestow His favours on them; but if they did not fulfil their covenant, they would be deprived of His favours. Now as the Israelites utterly failed to keep the covenant, God raised the Promised Prophet from among the Ishmaelites as He had already promised, and henceforth the covenant was transferred to the followers of the new Prophet. He who obeyed the new Prophet would prosper; he who rejected him would be cut off.

The words, fulfil your covenant with Me, I will fulfil My covenant with you, also lead to an important inference. The greatest favour bestowed by God upon the Israelites in fulfilment of His covenant with them was the gift of prophecy. They were given a Law in the form of the Torah, but this did not put an end to the appearance of Prophets among them who continued to come even after Moses. These Prophets brought no new Law but they received divine revelation and breathed a new life into their people. The Quran also refers to this favour of God upon the Israelites (5:21). Now in the verse under comment, God holds out the promise to the Israelites that if they fulfilled their part of the covenant and believed in the Holy Prophet of Islam, He would fulfil His part, i.e. continue to bestow the gift of prophecy on them as He had done in the past. This could be done only by raising from among them such Prophets as brought no new Law but simply came to serve the Law of Islam. From this it clearly follows that even in the new Dispensation inaugurated by the Holy Prophet, the gift of prophethood is still open; if it were not open, the promise of God that if the Israelites believed in the new Dispensation, the same favours which were bestowed on them in the past would be bestowed on them in the future could not hold true.

From the above it is also clear that the prophethood promised in Islam is to be like that of the Prophets who came after Moses. The latter were not Law-bearing Prophets, but simply came to serve the Law of Moses. Similarly, the prophethood promised in Islam is not to be a Law-bearing prophethood but simply a prophethood meant for the service of the Quran (See also under 1:7).

The concluding words, and Me alone should you fear, are at once a warning and an appeal to the Jews. As explained under Important Words, this clause contains triple emphasis and means somewhat like this, "Fear Me alone; beware, and fear Me alone." The Israelites had already incurred God’s anger by repeatedly breaking their covenant with Him. Now was a last chance for them, so let them fear the Lord even now and accept the new Prophet whose acceptance can yet turn the scales in their favour. It was a case of now or never.

In this connection it may also be noted that the above expression, i.e. and Me alone should you fear, has not been used to signify that God is something to be feared. The emphasis is rather on the fact that nothing except God should be feared. Islam roots out all fears except that of God. Indeed, he who fears anybody or anything except God is not a true believer.

7:137; 8:55; 20:78-81; 26:64-67; 28:41; 44:25.

Important Words:

فرقنا (We divided) is from فرق meaning, he divided or he split. فرق الشعر means, he made parting in the hair (Aqrab).

بکم (for you) may give a number of meanings: (1) for you; (2) with you, i.e. the sea divided or receded as you proceeded, as if you were the means of dividing it; (3) because of you, i.e. in order to save you; (4) in your presence, i.e. while you were present (Kashshaf).

Commentary:

The incident mentioned in this verse relates to the time when, under God’s command, Moses led the Israelites from Egypt to Palestine. The Israelites left secretly at night, and when Pharaoh learnt of their flight, he pursued them with his hosts in order to bring them back to bondage. The verse mentions the favour bestowed by God on the Israelites by dividing the sea for them and drowning the Egyptians. The incident is narrated in Exod. 14:21-30. The Bible says: "And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night and made the sea dry land and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand and on their left. And the Egyptians pursued and went in after them to the midst of the sea… And the waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them."

The بحر (sea) spoken of in the Quranic verse and mentioned in the Biblical quotation given above refers to the Red Sea through which or through an extremity of which the Israelites passed in their flight from Egypt to the Holy Land (Exod. 14).

Besides the verse under comment, the Quran also speaks of this incident in 20:78, 26:64 and 44:25. Says the Quran: And We sent a revelation to Moses, saying, 'Take away My servants by night and strike for them a dry path through the sea' (20:78). Again: Then We revealed to Moses, saying, 'Strike the sea with thy rod'. Whereupon it parted and every part was like a huge sandhill, i.e. on one side was the sea itself, and on the other (from which the sea had receded) there loomed large depressions filled with water (26:64). And again: Take My servants away by night; for you will surely be pursued. And leave the sea motionless (i.e. pass through quickly and leave it at a time when the tide has all receded but has not yet begun to flow back, so that, on the one hand, finding the sea-bed dry and, on the other, feeling secure in the thought that the high tide was not likely to overtake them, the Egyptians might be tempted to follow on); they are a host which is doomed to be drowned (44:24, 25).

In view of the above description, the facts appear to be as follows. When the Israelites were on their way to the Promised Land, they were pursued by the army of Pharaoh. When they reached the arm of the Red Sea which lay across their route, they were greatly dismayed, for Pharaoh was close behind with his hosts. But God cheered them through Moses, asking him to strike the water with his rod. This being the time of ebb-tide, the sea receded, exposing to view in the bed of the sea huge mounds of dry sand interspersed with depressions filled with water. Under the lead of Moses the Israelites quickly crossed the dry bed of the sea to the opposite bank. The army of Pharaoh came in pursuit, and while they were yet in the bed of the sea the high tide returned and drowned them all.

It should be remembered that, according to the Quran, a miracle is purely the work of God, and man has no hand in it. So, the striking of the sea by Moses was merely a symbol or a sign, having nothing to do with the actual parting of the sea which was exclusively the work of God, Who so arranged that it was the time of ebb-tide when Moses reached the sea so that just when He lifted his rod the sea began to recede. But when the army of Pharaoh began to cross the sea, they met with obstacles, just as heavily equipped armies generally do, and their progress was naturally retarded so that while they were yet in the midst of the sea, the high tide flowed and they were all drowned.

The words of the Quran do not lend themselves to the erroneous inference that there was an actual split in the sea to afford a passage for Moses and his followers. The two words used in the Quran in this connection are فرقنا (We divided) and انفلق (the sea parted); the root idea of both being "parting". These two words only corroborate the theory that when the Israelites reached the sea, the ebb-tide set in and the sea parted, exposing to view the sand dunes upon which the Israelites crossed over to the other side.

The fact that Pharaoh followed Moses through the bed of the sea also indicates that it was the time of the ebb-tide. If the sea had been actually split against all known laws of nature, Pharaoh would never have dared to follow in the wake of Moses. Nevertheless, it was a great miracle brought about by a subtle combination of the laws of nature which all united to save the Israelites and destroy Pharaoh and his people.

In this connection we may well quote an incident in Napoleon’s life which goes to illustrate how the tide helped Moses and destroyed Pharaoh in their journey across the Red Sea. In Abbott’s Life of Napoleon it is related that, "One day, with quite a retinue, he (Napoleon) made an excursion to that identical point of the Red Sea which, as tradition reports, the children of Israel crossed three thousand years ago. The tide was out, and he passed over the Asiatic shore upon extended flats. Various objects of interest engrossed his attention until late in the afternoon, when he commenced his return, the twilight faded away, and darkness came rapidly on. The party lost their path, and, as they were wandering bewildered among the sands, the rapidly returning tide surrounded them. The darkness of the night increased, and the horses floundered deeper and deeper in the rising waves. The water reached the girths of the saddles, and dashed upon the feet of the rider, and destruction seemed inevitable. From that perilous position Napoleon extricated himself by that presence of mind and promptness of decision which seemed never to fail him…The horses did not reach the shore until midnight, when they were wading breast deep in the swelling waves. The tide rises on that part of the coast to the height of 22 feet. 'Had I perished in that manner like Pharaoh', said Napoleon, 'it would have furnished all the preachers in Christendom with a magnificent text against me'." (Abbott’s Life of Napoleon, Chap. 12, p. 96).

The words, while you looked on, have been added in the verse to make the Israelites realize that though the above miracle was performed before their very eyes and their proud and haughty oppressor was brought to naught in their very sight, yet they proved ungrateful to their Lord and His Prophet.

2:84, 94; 4:155.

7:172.

Important Words:

میثاق (covenant) is derived from وثق i.e. it was or became firm and established. اوثقه means, he made it firm and fast; he bound or tied it firmly and strongly. میثاق means, a firmly made promise; a covenant (Aqrab & Lane). It should be noted that every commandment of God has the force of a covenant for those who believe, because once an individual or a people believe in God and accept His guidance, they, as it were, enter into a covenant with Him that they will obey all His Commandments, a formal agreement not being necessary. See also 2:28.

رفعنا (We raised high) is derived from رفع which means, he raised or lifted a thing or person; he raised a person in rank, honour, position or dignity; he took a report or complaint to a person in authority (Mufradat & Aqrab). It also means, to make a thing tower above another standing beside it. We read in a hadith رفع لنا صخرة طویلة لھا ظل i.e. a big stone giving good shade was raised above us, i.e. we found ourselves beside a high shady stone (Bukhari, ch. on Hijrah).

فوق (above) is derived from فاق meaning, he surpassed it or him; he stood higher than it or him. Thus فوق is the opposite of "beneath" meaning "above", both literally and figuratively (Aqrab). It is also used to denote a place higher than that which one is occupying. The Quran says: اذجاءوکم من فوقکم i.e. when the enemy made a descent on you from a higher position (33:11).

الطور (the Mount) means: (1) a hill or mountain; (2) the mount Tur or Sinai (Mufradat & Aqrab). Thus, it is both a common and a proper name.

Commentary:

In this verse the Quran again reverts to the previous subject, i.e. the iniquities of the Israelites, but in a different field. The verse refers to the time when Moses went up the Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments and left his followers standing at the foot of the Mount (Exod. 19:17). So the covenant spoken of in the verse refers to the Ten Commandments which were given to Moses on this occasion.

The clause We raised high above you the Mount, does not mean that Mount Sinai was physically lifted up to hang over the heads of the Israelites. It only means that the covenant was taken at a time when the Israelites were standing at the foot of the mountain—a meaning quite consistent with the Arabic idiom as explained under Important Words. The raising of the Mount above the Israelites has been ascribed to God, because it was He Who had commanded them to come and stand at the foot of the Mount.

The verse may also refer to the scene when the Mount Sinai was terribly shaken with an earthquake, while the Israelites were camping near it (Exod. 19:18). On such an occasion the shaking of a high mountain peak appears as if it were hanging over the heads of those standing near it.

2:64; 4:155; 7:172.

Important Words:

اشربوا (were permeated with) is derived from شرب meaning, he drank. اشرب means, he was made to drink. The expression,اشرب فی قلبه حب فلان means, the love of such and such a person permeated his heart (Aqrab). The word is so used because love is like alcohol that intoxicates one who partakes of it. The clause, اشربوا فی قلوبھم العجل (lit. they were made to drink into their hearts the calf) must really be read as اشربوا فی قلوبھم حب العجل (lit. they were made to drink into their hearts the love of the calf), the word حب (love) being understood before the word عجل (calf).

Commentary:

For an explanation of the expression, raised high above you the Mount, see under 2:64.

The words, they said, We hear and we disobey, signify that they practically refused to obey God. They did not necessarily use these exact words; for the word, as pointed out under 2:31, sometimes conveys the sense not of actual speech but of practical conduct.

Reference to calf-worship in verse 93 is not a mere reiteration of what has been already said in verse 55; the incident has been mentioned here as an illustration of what has been said about the Jews in the previous verse. Their attention is drawn to their conduct in the days of Moses. When Moses was absent from them for a short time only, they took the image of a calf for their idol, although they had witnessed how God had helped Moses and had shown mighty Signs at his hands; and that at a time when they had given a solemn promise not to worship anything besides God. In spite of that promise, they showed active opposition to the commandments of God by their deeds.

In the concluding portion of the verse, it is pointed out that the Jews professed to believe in what was revealed to them by God, but their belief was of a strange character for in spite of it, they persisted in their opposition to the Prophets. If this was believing, then their faith was only leading them astray.

2:64, 94.

2:59; 7:162.

2:66; 4:48; 7:164; 16:125.

Commentary:

See and compare 2:59, 64, 66 & 4:48.

2:254; 4:165.

Important Words:

تجلی (manifested Himself) is derived from جلا . They say جلاالامر i.e. the affair was or became clear, manifest, displayed, uncovered or laid open. تجلی الشیء i.e. the thing became manifest or apparent. تجلی الشیء used transitively means, he looked at the thing standing upon a higher position. The Quranic expression فلماتجلی ربه للجبل means, when his Lord became manifest to the mountain, i.e. when He manifested Himself on the mountain (Lane & Aqrab).

دکا (pieces) is the noun-infinitive from دك i.e. he broke or crushed or pounded a thing. They say دك الارض i.e. he made even the elevations and depressions of the earth. دکته الحمی means, fever weakened him. دك , therefore, means, an even or level place; a land broken and made even; a crumbled mountain; a mound or hill or dust or earth such as is a sandhill. The Quranic words جعله دکا means, He made it even or level; or He made it crumbled (Lane).

Commentary:

This verse sheds light on one of the most important religious subjects—whether it is possible for one to see God with the physical eyes. The verse lends no support to the view that God is visible to the physical eyes. Let alone seeing Him, the human eye cannot even see angels. Says the Quran: If God had appointed as Messenger an angel, He would have made him appear as a man (6:10). As we cannot see angels but only a manifestation of them, similarly we can see only a manifestation of God, and not God Himself. It is, therefore, inconceivable that a great Prophet of God like Moses with all his knowledge of the attributes of God, should have desired an impossibility. Moses knew that he could see only a manifestation of God and not God Himself. But he had already seen a manifestation of God in "the fire" when travelling from Midian to Egypt (28:30). What then did Moses mean by his request to see God, contained in the words, My Lord, show Thyself to me that I may look at Thee? The request seems to refer to the Perfect manifestation of God that was not granted to Moses but was to take place at the time of the Holy Prophet of Islam who was to be a مثیل or like of Moses. Indeed, Moses had already been given the promise that there was to appear, from among the brethren of the Israelites, a Prophet in whose mouth God was to put His word (Deut. 18:18-22). The words in which the promise was given implied a greater manifestation of God than had been vouchsafed to Moses. So Moses was naturally anxious to see what sort of God’s Glory and Majesty the promised Manifestation would be. He, therefore, wished that something of that Glory and Majesty might be shown to him. But a manifestation of that Glory was beyond the capacity of Moses to bear; it could not take place in or upon his heart. He was, therefore, asked to see a manifestation of it taking place at the Mount. But this should not be understood to mean that the Mount was to serve as a receptacle for the Great Glory: for, according to the Quran (33:73), the heart of Moses was certainly more capable of enduring it than the Mount. The Mount thus served only as the site or locality where that great manifestation was to take place. But even this proved too much for the Mount which shook violently.

The effect on the Mount was similar in nature to that produced on a Companion of the Holy Prophet when the latter’s head happened to be resting on his thigh at a time when a revelation descended on the Prophet. He felt such a heavy weight on his thigh that he feared that it would be crushed under it. Moses, too, could not bear to see the manifestation of Divine Power and Majesty and fell down unconscious, in spite of the fact that he had been warned beforehand of the terrible quaking that was to overtake the Mount. Thus it was that Moses realised that he did not possess the capacity for that powerful manifestation of Divine glory which was to take place later through the Holy Prophet of Islam. This is why when he recovered his senses, Moses cried, Holy art Thou, I turn towards Thee, and I am the first to believe. These words meant that he had realized that he did not possess the capacity for that perfect manifestation of Divine glory which was to take place through the Promised Prophet and that he was the first believer in the great spiritual eminence which that Prophet was destined to attain. This belief of Moses in the Holy Prophet has also been referred to in 46:11.

The words, He broke it into pieces, should not be taken literally, for the Mount was not actually broken into pieces. The words are used figuratively to express the great severity of the earthquake.

It may be also noted here that Moses was told to look at the mountain, and he was also told that he would see God if it remained in its place. The laying down of this condition shows that Moses had not asked for an impossible thing; for the laying down of a condition for an impossible thing is evidently meaningless.

The words, look at the mountain, implied that he should look outside himself because the manifestations could not take place within him. The fact that Moses fell down in a swoon shows that he did witness some manifestation, though only partly and imperfectly. The manifestation that takes place in the heart is permanent and lasting, while that which takes place outside is only temporary and passing.

A reference to this request of Moses to see God is to be found in Exod. 33:18.

2:64.

Important Words:

نتقنا (We shook) is formed from نتق. They say نتقه i.e. (1) he shook it; (2) he raised it; or (3) he spread it. An Arab would say نتق الله فوقھم الجبل i.e. God raised the mountain shaking above them (Aqrab).

ظلة (covering). See 2:211.

Commentary:

Owing to the violent shaking, the Mount looked like being suspended over the heads of the Israelites as though it were a covering. See also 2:64, 94 & 4:155.

52:2.

Commentary:

See next verse. The word سینین being in the plural shows that there are several mountains of this name in that region. On one of these God manifested Himself to Moses.