His words, Exalted is He:

…He knows [that which you keep] secret and that which is yet more hidden (akhfā).

He said:

That which is yet more hidden than a secret is something which the servant does not [consciously] think about, but thinks about in his sleep [unconsciously].

His words, Exalted is He:

…I also have other uses for it.^{1Referring to the staff of Moses, about which God has just inquired.}

The first one to own the staff was Adam. It came from a myrtle tree in Paradise. Then it was passed down from prophet to prophet until it came to Shuʿayb. Subsequently, when [Shuʿayb] gave Moses his daughter in marriage, he presented the staff to him. Moses عليه السلام used to lean on it, drive his sheep with it, scatter leaves for his sheep with it; then he would take from the tree whatever he wanted with it, and he would send it after lions, wild beasts and the vermin of the earth and it would strike them. If the heat became intense, he would stick it in the ground upright and it would provide shade. When he slept, it would guard over him until he awoke, and if the night was pitch dark, it would light up for him like a torch. When it was a cloudy day and he could not tell the time for prayer, it would give off rays from one of its sides. If he became hungry he would plant it in the earth and it would bear fruit immediately. These were the uses of his staff.^{2In his ʿArāʾis al-majālis, Thaʿlabī has devoted a chapter to traditions describing the many uses and miraculous powers of Moses’ staff. See Thaʿlabī, pp. 190–1; trans. Brinner, pp. 294–6.}

Moses عليه السلام mentioned the benefits and uses of the staff that had appeared to him, but God, Exalted is He, intended [to draw his attention to] uses and benefits [of the staff] that were, as yet, hidden from him, such as its turning into a snake, or [Moses’] striking the rock with it so that the springs gushed forth from it, or his striking the sea with it, and other such uses. It was through this that He showed him that the knowledge of people, even when they are supported by prophecy (nubuwwa), is deficient when compared to God’s knowledge regarding the universe of created things.

His words, Exalted is He:

…I cast upon you love from Me...^{1The context of these words is when Moses’ mother is commanded by God to place him into an ‘ark’ and cast him into the river. Thus the love cast by God upon Moses was when he was still an infant. But interestingly, in his interpretation Tustarī refers to the bequest of knowledge before he speaks of the bequest of love, as will be seen in the commentary that follows.}

He said:

God made apparent his bequest of knowledge to him [Moses] before any works [were done].^{2By Moses, or even required of him.} He bequeathed for him love (maḥabba) in the hearts of His servants.^{3Sufis teach that God rewards his prophets and saints by causing people to love them. However, possibly what is meant here is simply that Pharaoh’s wife was moved with love for him, rescued him from the river and adopted him.} Thus, there are hearts that are rewarded before any action and punished before they have even considered [such an action] (qabl al-raʾy), just as a person may experience joy within his soul without knowing the reason for it, or experience sadness without knowing the reason for it.

His words, Exalted is He:

…And We tried you with various ordeals…^{1In verses 20:38–40 God is recounting to Moses episodes in his past life. The nature of the ordeals mentioned are not specified in the Qurʾān, although it is evident from the context that they occurred after his slaying of an Egyptian and his being hired by Shuʿayb: …Then you slew a soul, whereupon We delivered you from [great] distress, and We tried you with various ordeals. Then you stayed for several years, among the people of Midian. Then you came [hither] as ordained. O Moses!}

That is, ‘As trials for your natural self (li-nafsika al-ṭabīʿiyya),^{2The printed edition has fitanan li-nafsika al-ṭabīʿiyya, and this differs from all three MSS (Z515, f. 73a, F638, f. 34a and F3488, f. 245b), which read: fatannā li-nafsik al-ṭabīʿī wa bayyannāhā ḥattā…, with the variant: fatannā nafsaka al-ṭabīʿī. The latter simply takes nafs as a direct object of fatanna. Tustarī seems to use the terms nafs al-ṭabʿ and nafs ṭabīʿiyya interchangeably (see the commentary on 12:24). The masculine form of the adjective following the feminine noun (nafs), which appears here in the MSS, and in other contexts, in the printed edition, is puzzling. We have followed the printed edition in this case, since bayyannāhā appears to refer back to the trials (fitan).} and explained them [the tests] to you (bayannāhā) ⸢so that⸣ you should never feel secure from God’s ruse’.^{3On the divine ruse, see above Tustarī’s commentary on 2:41 and p. 20, n. 47. See also 3:8 and p. 42, n.10.}

His words, Exalted is He:

And I chose you for Myself.

That is, ‘Devote yourself solely (tafarrad) to Me through the stripping away (tajrīd) [of all other], [so that] nothing diverts you from Me.’^{1In Sufism, the technical term tajrīd, lit. ‘stripping away’, means the purification of the self from all other than God. It is usually paired with the term tafrīd, lit. ‘making single’, which is to isolate the self for and in God. In this comment Tustarī has used the fifth form verbal noun from the root f-r-d (tafarrud), instead of the second form (tafrīd). On these two terms see, for example, Kalābādhī, Kitāb al-Taʿarruf, ch. 52, and Anṣārī, Manāzil al-sāʾirīn, chs. 97 and 98.}

His words, Exalted is He:

…And do not flag in remembrance of Me^{1Both Moses and Aaron are being addressed here.}

That is, ‘Do not keep abundant remembrance on [your] tongue, whilst being negligent concerning vigilance (murāqaba) in [your] heart.’

His words, Exalted is He:

And speak to him gentle words...

He said:

It was related from Ibn ʿAbbās رضي الله عنهم that he said, ‘Moses عليه السلام, when he visited Pharaoh, would say to him, ‘O Abū Musʿab say: “There is no god except God and I am the Messenger of God”.’^{1According to Ṭabarī’s history, the name of the Pharaoh of Moses’ day was Qabūs b. Musʿab b. Muʿāwiya, though Tustarī has here referred to him as ‘Abū Musʿab. See Ṭabarī, History, vol. 3, Children of Israel, trans. Brinner, p. 31.}

Sahl said:

Truly God, Exalted is He, invested Moses عليه السلام with the robe of those who possess refined manners (mutaʾaddibūn),^{2Substituting mutaʾaddibūn for mutaʾawwibūn in the published edition, on the basis of Z515, f. 72b; F638, f. 34a; and F3488, f. 245b.} and He removed from him the hastiness of those who impulsively rush in (mutahajjimūn),^{3Moses earlier had the reputation of being easily angered, as for example in 28:18. See also Ṭabarī, History, vol. 3, Children of Israel, trans. Brinner, p. 42.} due to the bounty (faḍl) and empowerment (tamkīn) that he found [from God].^{4MS Z515, f. 72b has limā arāhu instead of limā raʾāhu, which comes to the same, in that Moses was seeing what God showed him.}

However, He did not will for him [Pharaoh] faith (īmān), for had He willed it, He would have said, ‘So he may believe.’^{5The verse actually says: ‘that perhaps he may be mindful’ [20:44].} Rather, God, Mighty and Majestic is He, intended by this [command] that Moses عليه السلام should show graciousness (mulāṭafa) through the most beautiful discourse and gentlest speech, for this moves the hearts of all people, just as the Prophet ﷺ said, ‘Hearts have been created with the disposition to love those who are good to them and to hate those who do wrong to them.’^{6Tirmidhī, Nawādir al-uṣūl, vol. 1, p. 149; ʿAjlūnī, Kashf al-khafāʾ, vol. 1, p. 395; and Quḍāʿī, Musnad al-Shihāb, vol. 1, p. 350.} This was to pre-empt his [Pharaoh’s] argument (ḥujja), and to awaken interest in those among the sorcerers and others whom God knew would be guided.

His words, Exalted is He:

He said, ‘Do not fear, for I shall be with the two of you, hearing and seeing’.

He said:

God informed them [Moses and Aaron] that He was with them through His regard (naẓar), witnessing every predicament they experience, [and] through His strength (quwwa), aid (maʿūna) and support (taʾyīd). So [He said], ‘Do not be afraid of conveying the message under any circumstances.’

[Eat of the good things We have provided for you, but do not transgress regarding them…]^{1Tustarī appears in his commentary to have moved ahead to the next verse (20:81), which we have added in square brackets. All the MSS (Z515, f. 72b, F636, f. 34a and F3488, f. 346a) have qawluhu taʿālā fīhi an kulū minhā, which may indicate that the words of 20:81, which would have followed the words qawluhu taʿālā, may have been omitted. But the editors of both published editions have assumed the words: kulū minhā to be the words of the verse Tustarī is commenting on, with the editor of the Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya edition adding the reference for 2:58, since the words for that verse also read: kulū min ṭayyibāt mā razaqnākum.}

His words, Exalted is He, concerning this are [an admonition] that you should eat from them [the good things provided by God] in order to sustain yourselves, and should not satiate yourselves to the extent that you reach a state of intoxication (sukr) in which you are diverted from the remembrance [of God], for intoxication is forbidden.

And he said:

Whoever forces hunger upon himself, his blood will decrease in proportion to that, and in proportion to how much his blood decreases, evil suggestions (waswasa) will be blocked from entering his heart. If a mad person forced hunger upon himself he would become sane. The Prophet ﷺ said, ‘There is not a vessel more detestable to God than a stomach filled with food.’^{2Bayhaqī, Sunan al-kubrā (Beirut, 1994), vol. 4, p. 177 and ʿAjlūnī, Kashf al-khafāʾ, vol. 2, p. 260.}

His words, Exalted is He:

And faces shall be humbled before the Living, the Eternal Sustainer…

He said:

It means: They are humbled before Him in accordance with their station in gnosis (maʿrifa) of God and their being empowered (tamkīn) for receiving success (tawfīq) from Him.

His words:

…then whoever follows My guidance will not go astray, nor fall into misery.

He said:

That is, following and adhering to the Book and the Sunna. [Such a person] will not deviate from the path of guidance, and will not fall into wretchedness either in the Hereafter or in the present life.

His words, Exalted is He:

Nor extend your gaze to what We have given to some pairs among them to enjoy [as] the flower of the life of this world…

He said:

That is, ‘Do not direct your attention to that which results in the whispering of Satan, opposition (mukhālafa) to the All-Merciful, cravings (amānī) from the lower self, or acquiescence (sukūn) in what is familiar to one’s [basic] nature (ṭabʿ)’; for each one of these is among the things which cut a person off from the remembrance (dhikr) of God, Mighty and Majestic is He.