The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 94
CH. 20 ṬĀHĀ PT. 16 فَلَمَّا أَتَهَا نُودِيَ يُمُوسى ۚ 12. "And when he came to it, he called by a voice, 'O was Moses, اِن اَنَا رَبُّكَ فَاخْلَعْ نَعْلَيْكَ إِنَّكَ Verily, I am thy Lord. So. 13 بِالْوَادِ الْمُقَدَّسِ طُوًى وَاَنَا اخْتَرْتُكَ فَاسْتَمِعْ لِمَا يُوحَى ) of take off thy shoes; for thou art in the sacred valley Tuwā:2247 14. And I have chosen thee; so hearken to what is revealed to thee; اِنَّنِي أَنَا اللهُ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا أَنَا فَاعْبُدْنِي Verily, I am Allah; there is. 15 وَأَقِمِ الصَّلوةَ لِذِكْرِى no God beside Me. So serve Me, and observe Prayer for My remembrance,2248 27:9; 28:31; 79:17. 20:81; 28:31; 79:17. 20:42. d27:10; 28:31. and Moses after having had this experience could not possibly have gone back to Jethro, with the flock to apprise him of it the same evening as the Biblical account implies. Thus the Quranic account, is more in accordance with reason and facts of geography than the Biblical account. According to it the incident occurred after Moses had left Midian for good. 2247. Commentary: As stated above it was a vision that Moses had seen and "shoes", in the language of visions signifies worldly relations such as wife, children, friends etc. (thy two shoes) signifies, thy relations with thy family and those with thy people and community. Thus the verse purports to say that at the time of close communion with God Moses was commanded to banish from his mind all thoughts of wife and children and of other worldly connections. Taken literally the verse would mean that as Moses was in a sacred place he was bidden to take off his shoes. The word Ṭuwā meaning twice blessed (Lane), the significance of the verse may be that Moses in that state of communion with God stood in a valley doubly blessed, one end of which, as it were, reached to God and the other end to mankind. 2248. Commentary: The verse contains the first commandment that was given to Moses. It appears that the observance of Prayer is the most important commandment in religion. 2008 The words for My remembrance may mean: (a) for My remembering you i. e. as I have remembered you, therefore, you should also remember Me by way of thanks-giving;