Transliteration:( Wa lammaa jaaa'a Moosa limeeqaatinaa wa kallamahoo Rabbuhoo qaala Rabbi arineee anzur ilaik; qaala lan taraanee wa laakininzur ilal jabali fa inistaqarra makaanahoo fasawfa taraanee; falammaa tajallaa Rabbuhoo liljabali ja'alahoo dakkanw wa kharra Moosaa sa'iqaa; falammaaa afaaqa qaala Subhaanaka tubtu ilaika wa ana awwalul mu'mineen )
And when Musa came to Our appointed time and his Lord spoke to him, he submitted: "O my Lord! Show me Your Exalted Vision, that I may behold You." He said: "You can never (bear to) see Me, but look towards this mountain. If it remains steadfast at its place, then you will see Me." Then when His Lord made His light to shine on the mountain, He broke it into pieces and Musa fell down unconscious. Then, when he came to his senses, he said: "Hallowed be You. I turn towards You and I am the first of the Believers."
Musa (peace be upon him) made this request out of deep love and longing, seeking the vision of Allah, not out of doubt or rebellion. Unlike the Israelites—who demanded to see Allah out of arrogance and disbelief—Musa’s request arose from spiritual excellence. Hence, his desire was exalted, while theirs invited divine anger.
Allah responded that seeing Him in this world is beyond human capacity. However, this moment hints at a future possibility—that after the Holy Prophet ﷺ is blessed with Divine Vision, all believers will behold Allah on the Day of Judgement. Musa was honored with Divine Conversation, while the Holy Prophet ﷺ will be honored with the Vision.
Allah did not unveil His Personal Light, but cast a tiny portion of His Divine Manifestation onto the mountain. Even this small glimpse shattered the mountain, proving that creation cannot bear the intensity of Allah’s actual presence. This display was a symbol of Divine Majesty and Glory, allowing the human mind to grasp its limitless power.
Musa fainted due to the overwhelming impact of the Divine Manifestation. This proves that a Prophet can enter unconscious states, and such moments are spiritually valid. Similar states occur among awliya (saints) in deep divine absorption. Just as the women of Egypt wounded themselves upon seeing Yusuf’s beauty, the ecstatic states of lovers of Allah are beyond rational restraint. This verse becomes a spiritual foundation for meditative detachment found in higher levels of sainthood.
When Musa regained consciousness, he declared Allah’s perfection and repented, not because of a sin, but out of humble etiquette for having made such a bold request. This kind of repentance is spiritual—done out of reverence, not guilt—and reflects the depth of mystical love and humility.
Despite the impossibility of vision, Allah still fulfilled Musa’s desire in the best possible way, then gently taught him the limits of human capacity. From this, we learn that Allah honors even the boldest requests of His beloveds. As the Hadith says: “If a friend of Allah swears upon Him for something, Allah fulfills it.” Lastly, when Musa said “I am the first of the believers,” it meant the first among his people to submit entirely to Allah’s decree.
143. And when Musa came at the time and place appointed by Us, and his Lord (Allah) spoke to him; he said: “O my Lord! Show me (Yourself), that I may look upon You.” Allah said: “You cannot see Me, but look upon the mountain; if it stands still in its place then you shall see Me.” So when his Lord appeared to the mountain, He made it collapse to dust, and Musa fell down unconscious. Then when he recovered his senses he said: “Glory be to You, I turn to You in repentance and I am the first of the believers.”
Allah said that when Musa came for His appointment and spoke to Him directly, he asked to see Him,
(“O my Lord! Show me (Yourself), that I may look upon You.” Allah said: “You cannot see Me,”) `You cannot’ (Lan) by no means indicates that seeing Allah will never occur, as (the misguided sect of) Al-Mu`tazilah claimed. The Hadiths of Mutawatir grade narrated from the Messenger of Allah, affirm that the believers will see Allah in the Hereafter. We will mention these Hadiths under the explanation of Allah’s statement,
(Some faces that Day shall be radiant. Looking at their Lord.) ﴿75:22-23﴾ In earlier Scriptures, it was reported that Allah said to Musa, “O Musa! No living soul sees Me, but will perish, and no solid but will be demolished.” Allah said here,
(So when his Lord appeared to the mountain, He made it collapse to dust, and Musa fell down unconscious.) In his Musnad Imam Ahmad recorded from Anas bin Malik that the Prophet said about Allah’s saying;
(And when his Lord appeared to the mountain, )
(Like this) then he held out the tip of his little finger. At-Tirmidhi recorded this in the chapter of Tafsir for this Ayah, then he said; “This Hadith is Hasan Sahih Gharib.” This was also recorded by Al-Hakim in his Mustadrak through the route of Hamad bin Salamah, and he said; “This Hadith is Sahih according to the criteria of Muslim and they did not record it.” And As-Suddi reported that `Ikrimah reported from Ibn `Abbas about Allah’s saying,
(And when his Lord appeared to the mountain,) Only the extent of the little finger appeared from Him,
(He made it collapse) as dust;
(And Musa fell down unconscious) fainting from it. Ibn Jarir recorded these because of the relation to the word Al-Ghashi.
(Then when he (Musa) recovered his senses) after he lost consciousness,
(he said: “Glory be to You,”) thus, praising, glorifying and honoring Allah since no living soul could see Him in this life and remain alive. Musa’ statement,
(“I turn to You in repentance”) means, according to Mujahid, that from asking you to look at you,
(“and I am the first of the believers.”), among the Children of Israel, according to Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, and Ibn Jarir preferred this view. Or, according to another narration from Ibn `Abbas, the meaning of,
(“and I am the first of the believers.”), is that `none shall see You (in this life).’ Allah said,
(And Musa fell down unconscious.) Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri and Abu Hurayrah narrated a Hadith from the Prophet that is suitable to mention here. As for the Hadith from Abu Sa`id, Al-Bukhari recorded in his Sahih that he said: A Jew came to the Prophet after his face was smacked, and said, “O Muhammad! One of your companions from Al-Ansar smacked me on the face.” The Prophet said,
(Summon him) and he was summoned. The Prophet asked him,
(Why did you smack his face) He said, “O Allah’s Messenger! I passed by that Jew and heard him swearing, `No, by He Who has chosen Musa over mankind!’ I said, `Over Muhammad too’, and I became angry and struck his face.” The Prophet said,
(Do not prefer me above the Prophets. Verily, on the Day of Resurrection, people will be struck unconscious, and I (feel that I) am the first to wake up. Thereupon I will find that Musa is holding onto a pillar of the Throne (`Arsh of Allah). I will not know if he woke up before me or he received his due (because of his) unconsciousness on (Mount) At-Tur.) Al-Bukhari recorded this Hadith in many locations of his Sahih, as did Muslim and Abu Dawud. As for the Hadith from Abu Hurayrah, Imam Ahmad and the Two Shaykhs (Al-Bukhari and Muslim) collected his narration.
(7:143) And when Moses came at Our appointment, and his Lord spoke to him, he said: ‘O my Lord! Reveal Yourself to me, that I may look upon You!’ He replied: Never can you see Me. However, behold this mount; if it remains firm in its place, only then you will be able to see Me.’ And as soon as his Lord unveiled His glory to the mount, He crushed it into fine dust, and Moses fell down in a swoon. And when he recovered, he said: ‘Glory be to You! To You I turn in repentance, and I am the foremost among those who believe.’
There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.
[401]- That no one can see Allāh during the life of this world. [402]- It crumbled to dust.
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