At the beginning of the verse, He mentions His revelation to Noah and the prophets after him, then singles out Moses from among them by stating that He spoke to him. This indicates that the speech granted to Moses was more specific than revelation in general, mentioned at the beginning of the verse. He then reinforces it with the proper verbal noun of kallama (to speak to someone), namely taklīm (speaking), ruling out what those who deny the divine attributes—the Jahmiyyah, the Mu‘tazilah and others—have imagined: that it was inspiration, a sign, or the communication of an inward meaning by something other than speech. Thus, He reinforces it with the verbal noun, establishing that the action truly occurred and excluding any suggestion of figurative usage.

Al-Farrā’ said: “The Arabs call whatever is conveyed to a person ‘speech,’ however it reaches him. But they do not reinforce this with the verbal noun. When they do reinforce it with the verbal noun, it can only mean actual speech. The same applies to willing: they say, ‘So-and-so willed a willing,’ meaning actual willing. They may say, ‘The wall willed,’ but do not add ‘a willing,’ because this is figurative, not literal.” Here his words end.

Allah Most High says:

7:143 “When Moses came at Our appointed time and his Lord spoke to him, he said, ‘My Lord, show me Yourself so that I may look at You.’”

This speech was distinct from the first occasion on which He spoke to him and sent him to Pharaoh. It was during this second occasion, not the first, that Moses asked to see Him and was given the Tablets. It took place by an appointment Allah had made with him, whereas the first occasion was not by appointment. On this occasion Allah said to him:

7:144 “O Moses, I have chosen you above the people with My messages and My speech.”

That is, by My speaking to you, according to the unanimous agreement of the early Muslim generations.

He, Glorified be He, has also stated in His Book that He called to Moses and spoke privately to him. Calling is from a distance, while private conversation is from nearby. The Arabs say, “When the circle grows large, it is either a call or a private conversation.” His father Adam said to him during their debate, “You are Moses, whom Allah chose by speaking to you, and for whom He wrote the Torah with His own hand.” Likewise, those gathered on the Day of Resurrection will say this to him when they ask him to intercede with his Lord. Similarly, the hadith of the Night Journey mentions seeing Moses in the sixth or seventh heaven, according to the differing reports, and states, “That was because he had been favored with Allah’s speech.”

Had the speech granted to Moses been of the same kind as that granted to the other prophets, there would have been no point in singling him out for it in these hadiths. Nor would he have been called “the one to whom the Most Merciful spoke.” Allah Most High says:

42:51 “It is not for a human being that Allah should speak to him except by revelation, or from behind a veil, or that He should send