'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful'

His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿And has the story of Moses reached you?﴾ ﴿When he saw a fire and said to his family, 'Stay here; indeed, I have perceived a fire. Perhaps I can bring you a torch or find at the fire some guidance.'﴾ ﴿And when he came to it, he was called, 'O Moses,'﴿ ﴿Indeed, I am your Lord, so remove your sandals. Indeed, you are in the sacred valley, Tuwa.﴾ ﴿And I have chosen you, so listen to what is revealed.﴾ ﴿Indeed, I am Allah; there is no deity except Me, so worship Me and establish prayer for My remembrance.﴾

This question is a stopping point, the implication of which is to alert the soul to what will be presented to it. This is like when you begin to inform a man of a strange matter, and you say: 'Did you know such and such?' Then you start to inform him. The operative word in 'When' is what is included in His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿the story of Moses﴾, meaning the action, and its estimation is: 'And has the news of what Moses did when he saw a fire reached you?' and similar.

This, and it was from the story of Moses, peace be upon him, that he traveled from Midian with his family, the daughter of Shu'ayb, intending the land of Egypt. The duration of his crime there had been long, so he hoped for the concealment of his matter. And he was - according to what they claim - a jealous man, so he would travel by night with his family and not travel by day for fear of being seen by people. He strayed from his path on a dark, damp night, and it is narrated that he lost water and did not know where to seek it. While he was in this state - and his hand had struck a spark but did not produce anything - he saw a fire. He said to his family: 'Stay here,' meaning 'remain,' and he went to the fire. When he approached it, it was blazing in a green, flourishing tree. It was said that it was from a grapevine, and it was said that it was from a thornbush, and it was said that it was from a bramble. When he drew near to it, it moved away from him and walked, and when he turned away from it, it followed him. When he saw that, he was certain that this was a matter from the matters of Allah, the Exalted, that is extraordinary and beyond the norm. He was called, and his matter was concluded that night. This is the saying of the majority, and it is the truth. Al-Niqash reported from Ibn Abbas that he remained in that matter for a year, and his family stayed. They said: 'And this matter is not correct from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, and it is weak in itself.'

And 'I have perceived' means: I have sensed, and from it is the saying of Al-Harith bin Hillizah:

؎ 'I perceived a news and it frightened me, the dawn has approached.'

And the fire from a distance is only sensed by sight, and for this reason, some of them interpreted the word as 'I saw,' and 'I have perceived' is broader than seeing because you say: 'I have perceived good or evil from so-and-so.' And 'the torch' is the brand from the fire on the tip of a stick or reed or something similar, and 'guidance' means the way, that is: 'Perhaps I can find a guide for me or a sign even if it is not news.' And 'guidance' encompasses all of this, and indeed, Moses, peace be upon him, hoped for guidance that would lead him and coincidentally found guidance in general.

And in mentioning the story of Moses, peace be upon him, in its entirety in this surah is a consolation for the Prophet ﷺ regarding what he faced in conveying the message from hardships and the disbelief of people. For it is for him in terms of representation in his affair. It has been narrated from Nafi' and Hamzah that 'he said to his family, stay here' with the 'h' pronounced, and likewise in the stories, while the others broke the 'h' in both cases.

And His saying, exalted is He: "So when he came to it," the pronoun refers back to the fire. And His saying: "He was called" is a metaphor for Allah speaking to him. In "He was called," there is a pronoun that stands in place of the subject. If you wish, you can make it refer to Musa since his mention has occurred. Nafi', Asim, Ibn 'Amir, Hamzah, and Al-Kisai read: "Indeed, I" with a kasrah on the alif at the beginning. Ibn Kathir and Abu 'Amr read: "That I" with a fathah on the alif meaning: "Because I am your Lord, so remove your sandals." And "He was called" can be connected with a preposition. Abu Ali recited:

I called out by the name of Rabi'ah ibn Mukaddam Indeed, the one mentioned by his name is trustworthy.

And the interpreters have differed regarding the reason for the command to remove the sandals. One group said: They were made of the skin of a dead donkey, so he was commanded to remove the impurity. Another group said: Rather, his sandals were made of the skin of a slaughtered cow, but he was commanded to remove them to attain the blessing of the holy valley and to let his feet touch the soil of the valley.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

The verse can bear another meaning which is more appropriate to me, which is that Allah, exalted is He, commanded him to humble himself for the greatness of the situation he was in. It is customary among kings to remove sandals and for a person to reach the utmost of humility. So it is as if Musa, peace be upon him, was commanded to do this in this manner, and it does not matter whether his sandals were made from something dead or otherwise.

And "the holy" means: the pure, and "Tuwa" means: twice, so one group said: Its meaning is: "Sanctify twice." Another group said: Its meaning is: "I have traversed it, you," meaning you have walked through it, meaning the earth was made to fold for you twice from your perception. And Asim, Ibn 'Amir, Hamzah, and Al-Kisai read: "Tuwa" with tanween as it is the name of the place. Nafi', Ibn 'Amir, and Abu 'Amr read: "Tawa" as it is the name of the spot, without tanween. And all of these read with a dammah on the ta. Abu Zayd read from Abu 'Amr with a kasrah on the ta. And a group read: "Tawi," and a group said: It is the name of the valley, and "Tuwa" in the first interpretation is like their saying: "Thunyan" and "Thunyan," meaning: two folds.

And the seven reciters, except for Hamzah, read: "And I have chosen you." This reading is supported by its correspondence with His saying, the Most High: "I am your Lord." In the Mushaf of Ubayy ibn Ka'b, it is: "And indeed, I have chosen you." Hamzah alone read: "And we have chosen you" in the plural, with the hamzah opened and the noon doubled. This verse is like His saying, the Most High: "Glorified is He who took His Servant by night" [Al-Isra: 1]. Then He said: "And We gave Moses the Book" [Al-Isra: 2]. Thus, it shifts from singular to plural. A group read: "And indeed, we have chosen you" with a kasrah on the alif. My father, may Allah have mercy on him, told me that he heard Abu al-Fadl al-Jawhari say: When it was said to Moses, peace be upon him, "Listen to what is revealed," he stood on a stone, leaned against a stone, placed his right hand on his left, lowered his chin to his chest, and stood listening. His entire garment was made of wool. A group read: "In the blessed valley of Tuwā." His saying, the Most High: "And establish prayer for My remembrance" can mean: for My remembrance in it, or it can mean: for Me to remember you in the highest place by it. The source, in this case, can imply addition to the doer or to the object, and the لام (lam) is the lam of reason. A group said: His saying "for My remembrance" means: at My remembrance, meaning when you remember Me and My command to you by it. The lam, in this case, is like that in His saying, the Most High: "Establish prayer for the decline of the sun" [Al-Isra: 78]. A group read: "For remembrance," and a group read: "For remembrance" without the definite article, and a group read: "For the remembrance."