[2:60] And when Moses sought water for his people, We said, 'Strike with your staff the rock,' and there exploded from it twelve fountains, each people came to know their drinking-place, 'Eat and drink of that which God has provided, and do not be degenerate in the earth, seeking corruption'.
One who is capable of extracting water from solid rock is capable of quenching thirst without water. But He made the trace or effect (athar) of the miracle manifest in [Moses] and connected the locus (maḥall) of calling for help to him. He had Moses himself engaged in moving the stone, and entrusted him with striking with his staff. This was so that there would be a measure of [human] effort involved in making His decree come to pass in [Moses's] seeking water for his people. Then the Real (s) wanted each people to follow a way, sticking to their boundary, and not disputing with their companions. So He singled out for each tribe a marker by which they would know their drinking-place, so that they would not go each others' drinking-places. When He had met their needs, He bid them to be grateful, to preserve the command, and to stop choosing sin, so He said, 'and do not be degenerate in the earth, seeking corruption'.
The drinking-places are different and each comes to their own, so one drinking-place is sweet and fresh, another salty and bitter, and another clear and pure, another closed up with only a few drops. The water carrier for each people leads them and the scout of each party drives them on, so the lower selves come to the watering-places of desires and cravings, the hearts come to the drinking-places of God-fearing and acts of obedience, the spirits come to the watering-places of unveiling and witnessing, and the innermost selves come to the watering-places of realities, snatched from the being and outward markings (al-kawn wa'l-marsūmāt) [of humans], then from the sensory awareness and attributes (al-iḥsās wa'l-ṣifāt) [of humans], then annihilated in the reality of ecstatic finding and essence (al-wujūd wa'l-dhāt).