The saying of the Exalted and Majestic:

"So when his Lord manifested Himself to the mountain, He made it crumble to dust, and Moses fell down unconscious. When he recovered, he said, 'Glory be to You! I turn to You in repentance, and I am the first of the believers.'" [Al-A'raf: 143] "He said, 'O Moses, indeed I have chosen you over the people with My messages and with My words. So take what I have given you and be among the grateful.'" "And We wrote for him on the tablets [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: alwāḥ] advice and a detailed explanation of all things. So take it with strength and command your people to take the best of it. I will show you the abode of the transgressors."

The interpreters who speak, like Al-Qadi Al-Baqillani and others, said: "Indeed, Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, created for the mountain life, sensation, and perception by which it sees. Then He manifested Himself to it, meaning His sovereignty appeared, and the mountain crumbled due to the intensity of the manifestation. When Moses saw what was on the mountain, he fell unconscious." This meaning is narrated from Ibn Abbas. Al-Tabari narrated from Hammad ibn Zayd from Thabit from Anas from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, that he recited: "So when his Lord manifested Himself to the mountain, He made it crumble to dust." He said: He placed his thumb close to his little finger, and the mountain crumbled. (p-42) Hamid said to Thabit: Do you say this? Thabit raised his hand and struck his chest, saying: The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, says this, and Anas says it, and I should conceal it?

And a group said: The meaning is: So when Allah manifested Himself to the mountain with His power and sovereignty, the mountain crumbled.

Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This interpretation is strongly held by the Mu'tazila due to their saying: Indeed, the vision of Allah, the Exalted and Majestic, is not permissible. And the one who says it from the people of the Sunnah only says it while believing in the permissibility of the vision. However, he says: It is more appropriate for the words of the verse than to take the verse to mean that the mountain was created with perception and life. Al-Zajjaj said: Whoever says that the meaning is: "So when the command of his Lord manifested" has erred, and the people of language do not know that. Abu Ali responded to him in "Al-Aghfal."

And "dakk" means crushing and shattering. The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and Ibn Mas'ud, and Anas ibn Malik, and Al-Hasan, and Abu Ja'far, and Shaiba, and Mujahid, and Ibn Kathir, and Abu Amr, and Nafi', and Asim, and Ibn Amer read: "dakk." Hamza, Al-Kisai, Ibn Abbas, Al-Rabi' ibn Khuthaym, and others read: "dakkā" in the form of "hamrā'". And "dakkā" is the she-camel that has no hump. The meaning is: He made it a flat land, likening it to the she-camel. It is narrated that the mountain completely disappeared, and it was said that its top disappeared while most of it remained. It is narrated that the mountain shattered and crumbled until it became dust that the winds scatter. Sufyan said: It is narrated that it sank into the earth and reached the sea that is beneath the earth. Ibn Al-Kalbi said: It is falling into it until the Day of Resurrection. It is narrated that it broke into six parts, three of which fell in Mecca: Thabir, the cave of Thawr, and Hira, and three in Medina: Uhud, Warqan, and Radwa. This was said by Al-Naqqash. Abu Bakr Al-Hudhali said: It sank into the earth and will not appear until the Day of Resurrection.

'And 'sa'iqan' means: unconscious as in the case of one who is struck by a shock, which is the excessive sound. Al-Khalil said: It is the severe occurrence from the sound of thunder. This was said by Ibn Zayd and a group of the interpreters. Qatadah said: It was death. Al-Zajjaj said: This is weak, and the word 'afaqqa' necessitates something other than this. His saying: 'Subhanaka' [Al-A'raf: 143] means: glorification of You, as the Prophet blessings and peace be upon him explained. And his saying: 'Tubtu ilayka' [Al-A'raf: 143] means: from asking You for the vision in this world while You do not permit it. Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: It is possible for me that it is a word said by him, peace be upon him, due to the severity of the horror of what he witnessed, and he did not mean by it repentance from a specific thing, but it is a word suitable for that situation. Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: What the people of the Sunnah are cautious of is that it is a repentance from asking for the impossible, as the Mu'tazilah claimed. Nafi' read: 'Wa ana' with the alif being affirmed in the insertion. Al-Zahrawi said, and it is preferable to omit it in the insertion, and affirming it is a rare language outside of the norm. His saying: 'Awwal' could mean: from his people, the Children of Israel, which is the saying of Ibn Abbas and Mujahid, or from the people of his time if disbelief had spread across the horizons, or it could mean the first of the believers in that you do not see in this world, as Abu Al-Aliya said. Then indeed Allah, the Exalted, affirmed Musa upon His blessings with Him in the context of informing and commanded him to be grateful for them, as if He said: And do not exceed it to others. And His root is: 'as'tafa', which is derived from 'safa' meaning to choose, and the ta has changed to ta due to the place of the sad. Its meaning is: I have chosen you and specified you, and it is not used except for good and blessings; it is not said: He chose him for evil. And His saying, the Exalted: 'ala al-nas' is general, but the intended meaning is specific to those who shared with Musa in the sending, for indeed the sent prophets share with him in that they are messengers. And the apparent meaning of the Shari'ah is that Musa is specified with the speech, even if it has been narrated in the speaking of Allah to others as He wills, among the greatest of which is that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, was asked about Adam and said: 'He is a prophet who speaks.' Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

Except that this has been interpreted as meaning that it was in Paradise, and it is preserved - regarding this - the specification of Musa. It is correct that his saying: ﴿to the people﴾ is generally absolute in the totality of the two degrees: the message and the words. Hamzah, al-Kisai, Abu Amr, Asim, and Ibn Amer read: "with My messages" in the plural, since that which he was sent with is of various types. Ibn Kathir and Nafi' read: "with My message" in the singular, which is intended to mean the plural. The term message here takes the place of the source which is sending. The majority of the people read: "and with My words," and Abu Rija' read: "with My message and with My words," and al-Amash read: "with My messages and with My words," and al-Mahdawi reported from him: "and My speaking" in the form of taf'il. And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿So take what I have given you and be among the grateful﴾ is an admonition and a reprimand and a call to the path of safety, and an example for everyone in their condition. For indeed all blessings are from Him in measure, and all matters are in the sight of Allah and heard by Him.

And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿And We wrote for him on the tablets﴾, the pronoun in "for him" refers back to Musa, blessings and peace be upon him. The alif and lam in "the tablets" is a substitute for the pronoun which is estimated to connect between "the tablets" and "Musa," blessings and peace be upon him. Its estimation is: in his tablets. This is like His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿For indeed Paradise is the abode﴾ [An-Nazi'at: 41], meaning: his abode. It was said that the tablets were two, and it was said that they were seven. Mujahid and Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, said that the tablets were made of emerald, and Ibn Jubair said they were made of red ruby, and Abu al-Aliya also said they were made of brocade, and al-Hasan said they were made of wood. And His saying: ﴿of everything﴾ is a term of generality, and what is meant by it is everything that is beneficial in the meaning of the Shari'ah and is needed for the interest. And His saying: "for everything" is similar to it. Ibn Jubair said: what they were commanded with and what they were prohibited from, and this was also said by Mujahid. And al-Suddi said: the lawful and the unlawful. And His saying: "with strength" means: with diligence and patience upon it and endurance of its burdens, this was said by Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, and al-Suddi. And al-Rabi' ibn Anas said: "with strength" here means: with obedience. And Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said that Musa, blessings and peace be upon him, was commanded to take with the utmost of what he commanded his people. And take its root: take, the hamzah which is the letter of the verb was omitted contrary to the norm, so it sufficed from the first. And His saying: "with the best of it" has two meanings; one of them is preference, as if he said: if there are two permissible things in it, then they should take the better of the two, like forgiveness and retribution, patience and victory.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This is based on the saying that af'al in preference is not said except for what they both share in the preferred matter. As for the other saying, it may be intended by the best what is commanded in relation to what is prohibited, for it is better than it, and this is like the abrogating in relation to the abrogated and similar to this. Al-Tabari went to this meaning.

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

This interpretation is supported by the fact that it includes the obligatory acts, which do not enter into the first interpretation. It may be possible to conceive of a shared goodness in what is commanded and what is prohibited, even according to the desires and cravings of the commanding self. The other meaning that can be inferred from His saying, 'In the best of it,' is that He means by 'best' the description of the Shari'ah as a whole. It is as if He said: 'We have made for you a Shari'ah that is the best,' just as you say: 'Allah is the Greatest' without comparison. Then He said: 'So command them to take the best of it that We have legislated for them.' In this interpretation, there are objections.

The majority of people read: 'I will show you,' while Hasan ibn Abi Hasan read: 'I will show you.' Abu al-Fath said: The apparent meaning of this reading is rejected, and it is attributed to Abu Sa'id, whose eloquence is well-known. He directed it to mean 'I will show you,' then the vowel of the hamzah was prolonged until it produced a waw. It is reasonable to consider the waw in this context as a place of warning and severity, thus allowing the sound to be emphasized. Qasamah ibn Zuhayr read: 'I will inherit you,' which Abu Hatim reported, and al-Mahdawi attributed it to Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both. The waw is established in the script of the Mushaf, and therefore this difference is problematic, although we do not interpret it except as it has been narrated. As for those who read it: 'I will show you,' the meaning for them is: I will present to you and make you perceive to reflect on the state of the houses of the disobedient. The vision here is the vision of the eye, except that the meaning includes a promise for the believers and a warning for the disobedient. This indicates that it is a vision of the eye, as its action is transitive. It has been transitive with the hamzah to two objects, and if it were from the vision of the heart, it would have been transitive with the hamzah to three objects. If someone were to say: The third object is implied in the meaning, it is estimated, meaning: destroyed or ruined or burned - according to the saying of those who said: it is Hell - they would be told: It is not permissible to omit this object and to limit it without it, as it is included in the subject and the predicate. If it were allowed, it would be inappropriately crude in speech, which is not fitting for the Book of Allah, the Exalted.

Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, and Muqatil and Qatadah in the book of al-Naqqash said: The house of the disobedient is Egypt, and the intended is the family of Pharaoh. Qatadah also said: The house of the disobedient is the Levant, and the intended are the giants whom Musa, peace be upon him, was commanded to fight. Mujahid and al-Hasan said: The house of the disobedient is Hell, and the intended are the disbelievers in Musa in general. Al-Naqqash reported from al-Kalbi: The house of the disobedient includes the houses of Thamud, 'Aad, and the past nations, meaning: We will recount them to you so that you may see them.