Tafseer of The Stories · Al-Qasas · 28:29
And when Moses had completed the term and was traveling with his family, he perceived from the direction of the mount a fire. He said to his family, "Stay here; indeed, I have perceived a fire. Perhaps I will bring you from there [some] information or burning wood from the fire that you may warm yourselves."
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of the words of Allah the Exalted: فَلَمَّا قَضَى مُوسَى الأَجَلَ وَسَارَ بِأَهْلِهِ آنَسَ مِنْ جَانِبِ الطُّورِ نَارًا قَالَ لأَهْلِهِ امْكُثُوا إِنِّي آنَسْتُ نَارًا لَعَلِّي آتِيكُمْ مِنْهَا بِخَبَرٍ أَوْ جَذْوَةٍ مِنَ النَّارِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَصْطَلُونَ (29) (When Mūsā had fulfilled the term and set out with his family, he perceived a fire on the side of the Mountain. He said to his family: "Wait here, I perceive a fire. Perhaps I will bring you news from it, or a burning brand, that you may warm yourselves.")
Allah the Exalted — praised be His remembrance — says: when Mūsā had fulfilled for his companion the term he had agreed upon with him at the time of contracting the marriage with his daughter — and it is reported that the term he fulfilled was the more complete and fuller of the two, namely the ten years — although some among the scholars have transmitted that he added a further ten on top of the ten.
Mention of those who said that he fulfilled the ten years:
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, who said: I asked Ibn ʿAbbās: "Which of the two terms did Mūsā fulfill?" He said: "The best and the more complete of the two."
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās; he was asked: "Which of the two terms did Mūsā fulfill?" He said: "The more complete and the best of the two."
Muḥammad ibn ʿUmāra related to me, saying: ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: Mūsā ibn ʿUbayda related to us, on the authority of his brother, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: Mūsā fulfilled the latter of the two terms.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ibn ʿUbayda related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥakam ibn Abān, on the authority of ʿIkrima; Ibn ʿAbbās was asked: "Which of the two terms did Mūsā fulfill?" He said: "The most complete and the most fully discharged of the two."
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Ibn Isḥāq related to me, on the authority of Ḥakīm ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, who said: a Jew in Kufa said to me — while I was preparing for the Ḥajj —: "I see that you are a man who pursues knowledge; tell me: which of the two terms did Mūsā fulfill?" I said: "I do not know; but I am now going to the scholar of the Arabs" — meaning thereby Ibn ʿAbbās — "and I will ask him about it." When I arrived in Mecca, I asked Ibn ʿAbbās about it and informed him of the word of the Jew. Ibn ʿAbbās said: "He fulfilled the greater and the finer of the two; a Prophet, when he promises something, does not break his promise." Saʿīd said: "I returned to Iraq and met the Jew; I informed him of this. He said: 'Correct — but this is not what was revealed to Mūsā. Allah is the All-Knowing.'"
He said: Yazīd related to us, saying: al-Aṣbagh ibn Zayd related to us, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Abī Ayyūb, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, who said: a Christian asked me: "Which of the two terms did Mūsā fulfill?" I said: "I do not know" — and indeed I did not know at that moment. Then I met Ibn ʿAbbās and mentioned to him what the Christian had asked me. He said: "Did you not know that the eight years were obligatory upon him, so that the Prophet of Allah could not subtract anything from them? And do you know that Allah had decreed that Mūsā would fulfill the promise he had given — so he fulfilled ten years."
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning فَلَمَّا قَضَى مُوسَى الأجَلَ ; he said: Ibn ʿAbbās related that the Prophet of Allah discharged the greater and finer of the two terms.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Abū Maʿshar, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Qaraẓī, who said: the Prophet of Allah ﷺ was asked: "Which of the two terms did Mūsā fulfill?" He said: "The most fully discharged and the most complete of the two."
Aḥmad ibn Muḥammad al-Ṭūsī related to us, saying: al-Ḥumaydī Abū Bakr ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, saying: Ibrāhīm ibn Yaḥyā ibn Abī Yaʿqūb related to me, on the authority of al-Ḥakam ibn Abān, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ said: "I asked Jibrīl: 'Which of the two terms did Mūsā fulfill?' He said: 'The most complete and the most perfect.'"
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: Mujāhid said: the Prophet ﷺ asked Jibrīl: "Which of the two terms did Mūsā fulfill?" He said: "I will ask Isrāfīl." He asked him, and he said: "I will ask Allah — blessed and exalted." He asked Him, and He said: "The most faithful and the most fully discharged."
Mention of those who said that he fulfilled the ten years and added a further ten on top of them:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: فَلَمَّا قَضَى مُوسَى الأجَلَ ; he said: ten years, after which he remained another ten years.
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid: قَضَى مُوسَى الأجَلَ — ten years, after which he remained another ten years.
Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Muʿādh ibn Hishām related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: Anas related to us, who said: when the Prophet of Allah — Mūsā — had fulfilled for his companion the term agreed upon between them, his companion said to him: "Every ewe that gives birth to a young one of a color other than her own, that young is yours." He took an emaciated figure and placed it by the water. When they saw the figure, they took fright and fled, after which they all gave birth to dappled young — except for one ewe. He took that young that year.
As for His word: وَسَارَ بِأَهْلِهِ آنَسَ مِنْ جَانِبِ الطُّورِ نَارًا — Allah the Exalted — praised be His remembrance — says: فَلَمَّا قَضَى مُوسَى الأجَلَ وَسَارَ بِأَهْلِهِ — traveling with them toward his dwelling place in Egypt — آنَسَ مِنْ جَانِبِ الطُّورِ — by His word ānas He means: he saw and perceived, as al-ʿAjjāj said:
"He perceived the beasts of the open plain and plunged down, folding his wings, coming from the Mountain, and flew."
And in a manner similar to what we have said about this, the exegetes have spoken. We have already mentioned the report concerning this earlier, but here we mention what we had not previously mentioned.
* Mention of who said this:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning آنَسَ مِنْ جَانِبِ الطُّورِ نَارًا قَالَ لأهْلِهِ امْكُثُوا إِنِّي آنَسْتُ نَارًا : that is to say: I have perceived a fire.
We have already explained the meaning of al-Ṭūr (the Mountain) earlier, with its proof-texts and the reports of the exegetes.
As for His word: لأهْلِهِ امْكُثُوا إِنِّي آنَسْتُ نَارًا — He says: Mūsā said to his family: "Wait and remain here; I perceive a fire. لَعَلِّي آتِيكُمْ مِنْهَا — from the fire — بِخَبَرٍ أَوْ جَذْوَةٍ مِنَ النَّارِ " — He says: or I will bring you a thick piece of wood with fire in it — like a jidhmah from the root of a tree. To this also applies the word of Ibn Muqbil:
"The wood-gatherers of Laylā spent the night and sought for her thick trunk-pieces, neither slack nor smoky."
In the word jidhwa there are three dialectal forms: jidhwa with kasra on the jīm — and thus the reciters of the Ḥijāz and Basra and some of those of Kufa read it; this is the most well-known of the three forms — and jadhwa with fatḥa on the jīm, and thus also some of the reciters of Kufa read it. Even though these three dialectal forms are all known in Arabic usage, the reading with the most well-known of them is dearest to me, although I do not disapprove of the reading of one who chooses other than the most well-known.
And in a manner similar to what we have said about the meaning of jidhwa, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said this:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: أَوْ جَذْوَةٍ مِنَ النَّارِ ; he says: a burning torch (shahāb).
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning أَوْ جَذْوَةٍ — the jidhwa is the root of a tree with fire in it.
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Abū Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: إِنِّي آنَسْتُ نَارًا لَعَلِّي آتِيكُمْ مِنْهَا بِخَبَرٍ أَوْ جَذْوَةٍ مِنَ النَّارِ ; he said: the root of the tree, at the end of which is fire — that is what is meant by أَوْ جَذْوَةٍ . He said: the palm branch with fire in it. Maʿmar said, and Qatāda said: أَوْ جَذْوَةٍ or a flame from the fire.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: أَوْ جَذْوَةٍ مِنَ النَّارِ ; he said: the root of a tree.
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning أَوْ جَذْوَةٍ مِنَ النَّارِ ; he said: the root of a tree.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His word: أَوْ جَذْوَةٍ مِنَ النَّارِ ; he said: the jidhwa is the piece of wood with fire in it, that is the jidhwa.
As for His word: لَعَلَّكُمْ تَصْطَلُونَ — He says: that you may warm yourselves with it against the cold, for it was winter.
