A143
Surah: 007 - Ayah: 143
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7:143
The rank of light of Hazrat Musa, also, was the same as that attained by Hazrat Adam, Hazrat Nuh and Hazrat Ibrahim before him, as God says: "And when Musa came (to the Mount Sinai) to fulfill Our appointed time and his Nourisher (rabb) spoke to him, he said: 0 Lord! Show me (Thy self), that I may gaze upon Thee. He said: By no means canst thou see Me; but look upon the mountain (to which I reveal My glory)! If it stands still in its place, then thou wilt see Me. And when his Nourisher revealed (His) glory to the mountain He sent it crashing down. And Musa fell down unconscious. And when he came to consciousness (i.e. when the tawil came to him) he said: 0 God, Thou art free from all attributes! I turned to Thee, and I am the first to believe (in these realities)" (7:143).
Hazrat Musa prayed to God: "Give me the strength to see you that I may gaze upon Thee. He said: Thou wilt not see Me, but gaze upon the mountain'. If it stands still in its place, then thou wilt see Me. And when his Lord revealed (His) glory to the mountain He sent it crashing down. And Musa fell down unconscious"(7:143). For the sake of the great ta'wlic wisdom of this verse, it is appropriate to ask if it was an external and material mountain, then how did a lifeless and irrational mountain accept the effect of the light of the Divine manifestation and in what sense or how did it crash into pieces? The answer is that in front of Hazrat Musa there were two mountains: one was the material and the other was spiritual and intellectual. The Lord had revealed Himself to the mountain of intellect in the form of intellect and knowledge and not in any other form. For, in the Holy Qur'an when the Lord (rabb) is mentioned, it is mentioned in connection with the upbringing and nourishing of the intellect and knowledge. Thus the Benevolent Lord at this highest stage of the spirituality of Hazrat Musa, through His wisdom-filled luminous manifestation, broke the mountain of intellect into pieces intellectually and in the form of knowledge and scattered the pearls of the great secrets. The ta'wil of Hazrat Musa's falling down unconscious is that Hazrat Musa was bewildered by this supreme, unprecedented and most comprehensive (jamai al-jawami) demonstration of knowledge and wisdom. And the ta'wil of coming to consciousness is that gradually he started to grasp the wisdoms of the fountainhead of the light of intellect.
Tajalla (He/it became visible, evident, manifest)
In the spiritual journey of the personal world, there comes first the mountain of soul and then the mountain of intellect. The mountain of soul is smashed into pieces by the manifestation of God, therefore, Hazrat Musa did not have His vision (didar) (7:143) at that place. It is at the mountain of intellect, that every Prophet and every wali of God has His didar, because it remains intact in its place.
Q278 Here is a brief but extremely difficult question related to verse (7:143): “O my Lord! Show me [Yourself] that I may behold You”, that is, give me Your didar. Did Hazrat Moses(c) have didar or not?
A278
- Although the question is extremely difficult, but God willing, the One Who eases difficulties can help us.
- This story of Hazrat Moses(c) is related to the stage of Hazrat Israfil and Hazrat cIzra’il, where the mountain of soul smashes into particles due to the Divine manifestation, but there is no conspicuous didar.
- Further on, at the blessed spot (al-buqcatu’l-mubarakah, 28:30), i.e. the sacred Sanctuary, Hazrat Moses(c) had the holy didar.
- The tree or bush from which the voice was coming means the Universal Soul, who is the mazhar of Rahman (the locus of the Compassionate) in the higher world.
This verse has been referred 11 times.