'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' Allah, the Exalted, says: "And We appointed for Musa thirty nights, and We completed them with ten, so the appointed time of his Lord was forty nights." And Musa said to his brother Harun, "Be my successor among my people and set things right, and do not follow the way of the corrupt." "And when Musa came to the appointed time and his Lord spoke to him, he said, 'My Lord, show Yourself to me so that I may look at You.' He said, 'You cannot bear to see Me, but look at the mountain; if it remains firm in its place, then you will be able to see Me.' But when his Lord manifested His glory to the mountain, He made it crumble to dust, and Musa fell down unconscious. When he recovered, he said, 'Glorified are You! I turn to You in repentance, and I am the first of the believers.'" Abu Amr, Ubayy ibn Ka'b, Abu Rajaa, Abu Ja'far, and Shaiba read: "And We appointed." This has been mentioned previously in Al-Baqarah. Allah, the Exalted, informed Musa, peace be upon him, to prepare for His conversation for thirty nights. Then He added ten nights to the term after that. It is mentioned that Musa, peace be upon him, informed the Children of Israel about his absence for thirty nights. When the ten nights were added to his absence without the Children of Israel knowing about it, their souls became anxious about the increase over what he had informed them. The Samaritan said to them, 'Indeed, Musa has perished and will not return,' and he misled them with the calf, so they followed him. This was all narrated by Ibn Jurayj. It was said that he informed them about his absence for forty nights, and this is what Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, meant, as stated by Al-Hasan. This is similar to His saying: "So the fast of three days during the pilgrimage and seven when you return; those are ten complete days." [Al-Baqarah: 196] They counted the days and nights, and when forty from the time had passed, they said, 'Musa has broken his promise,' and they went astray. Mujahid said, 'The thirty refers to the month of Dhul-Qi'dah, and the ten refers to the ten of Dhul-Hijjah.' This was also said by Ibn Abbas and Masruq. It has been narrated that the thirty were promised to be fasted and prepared for the conversation, and that the duration of the conversation is the ten. It was said that the duration of the conversation is the forty. Musa's commitment to the matter and his adherence improve the wording of the appointment. Where it is stated that the appointment is forty nights, this is a report of the matter in general, and in this verse, it is a report of its details of how it occurred. And 'forty' in this verse and what follows is in the position of the state, and it is valid that 'forty' is a term in terms of it being a count of times. In the Mushaf of Ubayy ibn Ka'b, it is written 'and We completed it' without an alif and with the doubling of the meem. Al-Zajjaj mentioned from some of them that when he fasted thirty days, he noticed the bad breath in his mouth, so he used a twig of a carob tree to clean it. The angels said, 'We used to smell from you the fragrance of musk, but you spoiled it with the miswak, so ten nights were added to him.' And 'thirty' is in the accusative case, meaning: We appointed him thirty, and it is not in the nominative case regarding the term; because the appointment did not occur in the thirty. Then He reiterated the matter by saying: 'So the appointed time of his Lord was forty nights.' It was said to clarify that the ten were not hours, and in general, it is an affirmation and clarification.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And Moses said to his brother﴾, the meaning is: And Moses said when he intended to proceed for the conversation and to be absent in it. And "be my successor" means: Be my representative. This is a succession in a life like a delegation that ends with the dismissal of the delegate or his death, and it does not imply that he continues after a death. Thus, what the Imamiya have mentioned in their saying: That the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, appointed Ali by saying: "You are to me like Harun to Musa" is resolved. And Moses said: Be my successor, and this implies that Ali is the successor of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him. What we have mentioned resolves this analogy.

And He commanded him in this verse to do good, then from other ways not to follow the path of the corrupt. Ibn Jurayj said: It was part of doing good to rebuke the Samaritan and to confront him.

Then Allah, blessed and exalted is He, informed about Moses, peace be upon him, that when he came to the place that was designated for him, and at the time that was appointed for him, and his Lord spoke to him, he said in longing: ﴿My Lord, show Yourself to me﴾. The majority read: "Show me" with a kasra on the ra, and Abu Amr and Ibn Kathir read: "Show me" with a sukun on the ra.

The meaning in His saying, exalted is He: ﴿He spoke to him﴾ [Yusuf: 54] means: He created for him an understanding by which he heard the speech that is eternal and inherent to the essence, which is a characteristic of the essence. Ibn Abbas and Ibn Jubair said: Allah, blessed and exalted is He, brought Moses, peace be upon him, close until he heard the rustling of the pens on the tablet. And the speech of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, does not resemble anything from the speech of created beings nor in any direction. And just as it exists, it is not like other existents, and it is known, not like known things. Likewise, His speech does not resemble the speech that has signs of occurrence. The waw is a conjunction for "He spoke to him" in relation to "He came," and it is possible that it is a waw of the state, but the first is clearer. Wahb ibn Munabbih said: Allah spoke to Moses in a thousand instances, and he saw light on his face for three days after each instance. And Moses did not approach women since Allah, exalted is He, spoke to him. And the answer to "when" in His saying, exalted is He: "He said," means that when He spoke to him and distinguished him with this rank, his ambition aspired to the rank of vision and he longed for that. So he asked his Lord to show Himself to him. This was said by Al-Suddi and Abu Bakr Al-Hudhali. And Al-Rabi said: We brought him close in secret until he heard the rustling of the pens.

And the vision of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, according to the Ash'ari and the people of the Sunnah, is rationally permissible, because from where He exists, His vision is valid. They said: Because vision of a thing does not relate to a characteristic of it more than existence, except that the Shari'ah has established the vision of Allah, blessed and exalted is He, in the Hereafter as a text, and prohibited it in this world by apparent indications from the Shari'ah. So Moses, peace be upon him, did not ask his Lord for the impossible, but rather he asked for what is permissible.

'And His saying, exalted is He: "You will never see Me, but look at the mountain." This verse is not a response to one who asked about the impossible. And Allah, blessed and exalted, said to Noah: "Do not ask Me about that of which you have no knowledge. I advise you not to be among the ignorant." [Hud: 46] So if Moses had asked about the impossible, there would have been a reprimand and clarification in the speech. And His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "You will never see Me" is a clear statement from Allah, exalted is He, regarding the prohibition of seeing Him in this world. And "never" negates the future action. If we were to remain with this negation in its mere form, we would conclude that he will never see Him, neither in this world nor in the Hereafter. However, it has been narrated from another source in the mutawatir hadith that the people of faith will see Allah, exalted is He, on the Day of Resurrection. So Moses, peace be upon him, is more deserving of seeing Him. Mujahid and others said: Allah, exalted and glorified, said to Moses: "You will never see Me, but I will manifest Myself to the mountain, which is stronger than you and more formidable. If it remains firm and can endure My awe, then you will be able to see Me." The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 'On this basis, Allah made the mountain an example. And a group said: The meaning is: I will manifest Myself to you on the mountain, and if it remains firm due to My greatness, then you will see Me.' And there are long narrations regarding how Moses stood and awaited the vision, which I have summarized due to its length and the numerous points of objection within it.