His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿And We certainly gave Moses the Book so that perhaps they would be guided﴾ ﴿And We made the son of Mary and his mother a sign, and We took them to a raised place with a stable location and a flowing spring﴾ ﴿O messengers, eat from the good things and work righteously. Indeed, I am Knowing of what you do﴾

"The Book" is the Torah, and "perhaps they" refers to the Children of Israel, because the Torah was revealed after the destruction of Pharaoh and the Egyptians. The hope in "perhaps" is within the realm of humanity, meaning: it was from Our action with them that the son of Adam hopes for their faith and guidance, and the decree has already judged what it has judged.

And "the son of Mary" is Jesus, peace be upon him, and their entire story is a great sign in its entirety, and it consists of verses with detail. It is taken from both aspects, and "took in" means: embraced, and the use of the term in places means: We settled them. And "the raised place" is the elevated land. The majority of people read: "a raised place," while Asim and Ibn Amer read it with a fatḥah, which is the reading of Al-Hasan and Abu Abd al-Rahman. Ibn Abbas and Nasr from Asim read it with a kasrah. Muhammad ibn Ishaq read: "a raised place" with a dammah, and Al-Shuhab Al-Aqili read it with a fatḥah, and a group read it with a kasrah. All of these are dialects that have been read, and "the stable location" means: the permanence, so the meaning of this is that it is a flat and level place suitable for farming and planting, as Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said. And Qatadah said: "the stable location" here refers to the grains and fruits.

And the meaning of the verse is that it is from the lands that have complete qualities, so they are worthy of being settled in. It may be possible to settle in perfection in the lands where its water is wells, and then it was clarified that the water of this raised place is seen as a flowing spring on the surface of the earth, as Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said, and this is the perfection of perfection.

And "the flowing spring" is the apparent flowing of the spring, so the letter mīm is extra, and it is that which witnesses its flow, not like a well and the like. Likewise, Al-Khalil included this term in the category of (عَ، يَ، نَ), and it may be possible that it is from their saying: "the water has become abundant" if it has increased, and from it is their saying: the known abundance and generosity, so the mīm is the root of the action. Al-Tabari quoted on this the saying of Ubaid ibn al-Abrash:

A weak one or a flowing spring, and a slope beneath it is the heat.

And the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "May Allah have mercy on Hagar; if she had left Zamzam, it would have been a flowing spring." And this can be understood in both ways, and this raised place is the location to which Mary fled when she was shy in the story of Jesus, peace be upon him, and it is the place where it was said to her: ﴿Indeed, your Lord has made beneath you a stream﴾ [Mary: 24]. This is the saying of some of the interpreters.

And the people differed regarding the location of the Rabwah. Ibn al-Musayyib said: It is the Ghouta in Damascus. This is the most famous opinion because the description of the Ghouta is that it has a foundation and a spring that is perfect. Abu Huraira - may Allah be pleased with him - said: It is the Ramla in Palestine. Al-Tabari narrated it from Kuraib, from Murrah al-Bahzi, from the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him. This saying is opposed by the fact that the Ramla does not have water flowing through it at all. Al-Tabari mentioned it and weakened the saying about it. Ka'b al-Ahbar said: The Rabwah is the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and he claimed that in the Torah it is mentioned that Al-Aqsa is the closest land to the heavens, and that it is elevated above the highest land by eighteen miles. Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: It is more likely that the Rabwah is in Bethlehem, near Al-Aqsa, because the birth of Jesus took place there, and at that time, it was a place of refuge. Abu Zayd said: The Rabwah is in the land of Egypt, because it is a place where the flood of the Nile flows to it, filling the land, and that place has villages and is the means of its salvation. Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: This saying is weakened by the fact that it has not been narrated that Jesus - peace be upon him - and Mary were in the land of Egypt, nor is there a preserved story about them there. And His saying, the Exalted: "O messengers" can mean: And We said, O messengers, so this would be part of the stories that He mentioned. And however the meaning of the saying was, they were never addressed together; rather, each one was addressed in his time. A group read the address with His saying: "O messengers" to Muhammad - blessings and peace be upon him. Then they differed; some said: He established him in the position of the messengers, as He said: "Those to whom the people said, 'Indeed, the people have gathered against you, so fear them'" [Al-Imran: 173]. Others said otherwise, which does not stand with consideration. The point in this is that the address is to Muhammad - blessings and peace be upon him - and this form was used to briefly convey that this statement was addressed to every prophet, or it is their way that they should adhere to. This is like saying to a merchant: O merchants, you should avoid usury; you are addressing him in meaning, and it has been associated with that that this statement is suitable for all of his kind. Al-Tabari said: The address with His saying, the Exalted: "O messengers" is to Jesus - peace be upon him - and it has been narrated that he used to eat from his mother's spinning, and it is well-known that he used to eat from the wild herbs. The reason for addressing him is as we mentioned in the estimation of Muhammad - blessings and peace be upon him. And "the good things" here are the lawful with pleasure and otherwise. And in His saying, the Exalted: "Indeed, I am All-Aware of what you do" is a reminder of the need for caution, and a type of warning regarding the discussions - blessings and peace be upon all His prophets and messengers. If this is with them, then what do all people think of themselves?