from among his people—the best of them. He said to them, “Fast, purify yourselves, and cleanse your garments.” They did so, and Moses took them out to Mount Sinai for the appointed meeting with his Lord. They said to Moses, “Ask that we may hear the Speech of our Lord.” He replied, “I will do so.”
When Moses drew near to Mount Sinai, a pillar of cloud descended upon the mountain and covered it entirely. He entered the cloud and said to the people, “Come nearer.” So they approached until they entered the cloud and fell in prostration. Whenever his Lord spoke to Moses, a radiant light appeared upon his face, which no human being could bear to look at. A veil was therefore placed between them and him, and they heard Him speaking to Moses, commanding him and forbidding him. Allah caused them to hear: “Indeed, I am Allah; there is no god but Me, the Lord of Bakkah (1). I brought you out of the land of Egypt with mighty power, so worship Me and worship none besides Me.”
When Moses had finished and the cloud had lifted, he came back to them. They said to him, “We will never believe you until we see Allah openly”—that is, with direct sight. The Arabs use “seeing” to refer to knowledge held in the heart; therefore, the word “openly” was used to make clear that what was meant was direct visual sight.
“Then the thunderbolt seized you”: that is, death. It was also said that it was a fire that came down from heaven and burned them. “While you were looking on”: that is, some of you watched others as death overtook you. It was also said that it means: while you knew, for “looking” may carry the meaning of knowing.
When they perished, Moses began to weep, supplicate humbly, and say, “What shall I say to the Children of Israel when I return to them, after You have destroyed their best men? ‘Had You willed, You could have destroyed them before, and me as well. Will You destroy us because of what the foolish among us have done?’” (155—al-A'raf) He continued to implore his Lord until Allah, exalted is He, brought them back to life, one man after another, after they had been dead for a day and a night, each watching the others being restored to life. This is the meaning of His saying, exalted is He: “Then We raised you up”—that is, We restored you to life—“after your death.” Raising up means stirring something from its place. One may say, “I roused the camel,” or, “I roused the sleeper,” and it rose.
“After your death.” Qatadah said: “He restored them to life so that they might complete the remainder of their appointed lifespans and provisions. Had they died at their appointed terms, they would not have been raised again until the Day of Resurrection.”
“So that you might give thanks. And We shaded you with clouds”: in the wilderness, to protect you from the heat of the sun. The word for clouds derives from a root meaning covering and concealing; clouds are so called because they cover the face of the sun. This was because they had no shelter in the wilderness to shade them, so they complained to Moses. Then Allah, exalted is He, sent them a thin white cloud, more pleasant than rain clouds, and provided them with a pillar of light to illuminate the night for them, since they had no moon.
“And We sent down upon you manna and quails”: that is, in the wilderness. The majority held that manna was tarangabin. Mujahid said, “It was something like gum that fell upon the trees, tasting like honey.” Wahb said, “It was thin bread.” Al-Zajjaj said, “Manna, in a general sense, is whatever Allah bestows without effort.”
Abd al-Wahid al-Mulayhi informed us; Ahmad ibn Abd Allah al-Nu'aymi informed us; Muhammad ibn Yusuf informed us, 12/a; Muhammad ibn Isma'il informed us; Abu Nu'aym informed us; Sufyan informed us, from Abd al-Malik—who was Ibn Umayr—from Amr ibn Hurayth, from Sa'id ibn Zayd, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Truffles are from manna, and their water is a healing for the eye.” (2)