His saying, exalted and glorified is He:

﴿And when he turned his face toward Midian, he said, 'Perhaps my Lord will guide me to the soundest way.'﴾ ﴿And when he arrived at the water of Midian, he found there a community of people watering [their flocks], and he found, apart from them, two women driving back [their flocks]. He said, 'What is [the matter] with you?' They said, 'We do not water until the shepherds dispatch [their flocks], and our father is a very old man.'﴾ ﴿So he watered for them; then he turned to the shade and said, 'My Lord, indeed I am in need of whatever good You would send down to me.'﴾

And when he, peace be upon him, went out fleeing for his life, alone and barefoot, with nothing with him; he saw his condition and his lack of knowledge of the way, and his being without provisions or anything else. So he entrusted his affair to Allah, blessed and exalted is He, and said: ﴿Perhaps my Lord will guide me to the soundest way.﴾ This saying of his indicates that he was knowledgeable of Allah, exalted and glorified is He, and aware of the wisdom and knowledge that Allah, exalted and glorified is He, had given him. And "turned his face" means he directed his face toward it, and "toward" means to a direction, that is, to the side where he would encounter the mentioned thing, and ﴿the soundest way﴾ means its middle. At this time, Allah sent the guiding angel, as we mentioned before. Mujahid said: He meant by "the soundest way" the road to Midian. And Al-Hasan said: He meant the path of guidance.

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

And this is more eloquent. Its equivalent is the saying of the Companion, may Allah be pleased with him, about the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: "This is the one who guides to the way," the hadith. So, peace be upon him, walked until he reached Midian, meaning: he arrived at it. His arrival at the water means: his reaching it; because he entered into it. The term 'arrival' can mean entering into something, and it can also mean looking at it and reaching it even if he does not enter into it. So, the arrival of Musa at this water was by reaching it. These meanings in the term are addressed in His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "And there is none of you except that he will come to it" [Maryam: 71]. And 'Midian' does not decline; it is a well-known town. And 'the community' means: a large gathering. And 'they water' means: their livestock. And "from beyond them" means: a direction towards the place from which he came. So, he reached the two women before reaching the community. And thus they are from beyond them in relation to him. And 'they were driving away' means: they were preventing and holding back. From this is his saying, blessings and peace be upon him: "Indeed, men will be driven away from my basin," the hadith. And there are many poetic evidences for this. In some manuscripts, it is written: "two women holding back, driving away." And there is a difference regarding 'driving away.' Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, and others said: they were driving their sheep away from the water for fear of the strong waterers. And Qatadah said: they were driving people away from their sheep. When Musa, peace be upon him, saw the two women, he said: "What is your affair?" meaning: what is your matter and situation? It seems that the use of the question with 'affair' is only in the case of someone who is afflicted, oppressed, or someone who is feared for, or who comes with an evil matter. So, it seems that he is generally in a state of trouble. They informed him of their news and that their father was an old man. The meaning is that he is unable due to his weakness to attend to the matter of their sheep, and that they, due to their weakness and lack of ability, cannot compete with the strong ones. And their custom was to be patient until the shepherds, meaning the people, leave the water and it is empty. Then they would come. And a group said: the wells were uncovered, and the crowd of people prevented them. So, when Musa wanted to water for them, he pushed through the people and overcame them at the water until he watered. And it is from this overcoming that one of them described him as strong. And a group said: rather, their wells were covered with large stones, and the arrival of the two women followed what was in the troughs of drinking from the leftovers that remained for the waterers. And Musa, peace be upon him, went to a well that was covered while the people were watering from another. And its stone could only be lifted by seven, as Ibn Zayd said. And Ibn Jurayj said: ten. And Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, said: thirty. And Al-Zajjaj said: forty. So, Musa, peace be upon him, lifted it and watered for the two women. And it is from lifting the stone that one of them described him as strong. And it was said: indeed, their well was one, and he lifted the stone from it after the waterers had left; for it was the custom of the two women to drink the leftovers.

And the majority read: "Nasqi" with a فتح (fath) on the ن (noon), and Talhah read: "Nasqi" with a ضم (dham) on it. Abu Amr and Ibn Amer read: "Hatta yasdura" with a فتح (fath) on the ي (ya) and ضم (dham) on the د (dal), which is the reading of Al-Hasan, and Abu Ja'far, and Qatadah. The others read: "Yusdira" with a ضم (dham) on the ي (ya) and كسر (kasr) on the د (dal) with the مفعول (maf'ul) omitted, its estimation being: their livestock. The omission of the مفعول (maf'ul) is common in the Qur'an and speech. This is the reading of Al-A'raj, Talhah, Al-Amash, Ibn Abu Ishaq, and Isa. And "Ar-Ri'a" is the plural of راعٍ (ra'i).

And Musa, peace be upon him, turned towards the shade of a سمرة (samarah), as stated by Ibn Mas'ud. He addressed the question of what he would eat by saying: "My Lord, indeed I am in need of whatever good You send down to me." And he did not explicitly state a request. Thus, the other interpreters narrated that he sought in this saying what he would eat. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: He had reached such hunger that his color changed from eating herbs, and he weakened until his stomach adhered to his back, and the greenness of the herbs was seen in his stomach. And he was the most honored of creation on that day before Allah, the Mighty and Majestic. It is narrated that he did not reach Midian until the sole of his foot fell off. In this, there is a consideration and a ruling on the insignificance of this world before Allah, Blessed and Exalted.