When Moses came to the place appointed by Us, and his Lord addressed him, He said: "O my Lord! show (Thyself) to me, that I may look upon thee." Allah said: "By no means canst thou see Me (direct); But look upon the mount; if it abide in its place, then shalt thou see Me." When his Lord manifested His glory on the Mount, He made it as dust. And Moses fell down in a swoon. When he recovered his senses he said: "Glory be to Thee! to Thee I turn in repentance, and I am the first to believe." (143)
Tafsir
Moses wanted to see God, but when he learnt that it was not possible to do so, he turned to God in repentance and reposed his faith in God, the unseen. Thus man is put to the test of believing in God without seeing Him. Seeing God is a reward reserved for the Hereafter, so how is it possible to see God in this present world? Moses received his first prophetic call on the mountainside. The next time he was again called to the mountain to receive the commands of the Torah. This is an indication that the best place to receive divine inspiration is the environment of nature rather than that of human society. Where man emerges from the hubbub of this noisy world of human beings and reaches the quiet world of the trees, mountains and rivers, he begins to feel himself closer to God. His mind is free from mundane problems; it is not preoccupied with worldly thoughts, so this is the best moment for him to think without any bias or complexes which might affect his thinking. Then he can be in true communion with God.
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