Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs
(And when Moses came to Our appointed tryst) in Midian (and his Lord had spoken unto him, he said: My Lord! Show me (Thy self)) he wished to see Allah, (that I may gaze upon Thee. He) Allah (said: Thou wilt not see Me) you will not be able to see me in the life of this world, O Moses, (but gaze upon the mountain) the highest mountain in Midian! (If it stand still in its place) if the mountain stands still when seeing Me, (then thou wilt see Me) then may be you will see Me. (And when his Lord revealed (His) glory to the mountain) to Mount Zubayr (He sent it crashing down. And Moses fell down senseless) he passed out. (And when he woke) from his fainting (he said: Glory unto Thee!) he glorified His Lord (I turn unto Thee repentant) from asking to see You, (and I am the first of (true) believers) that you will not be seen in the life of this world.
Tafsir Ibn 'Abbas, trans. Mokrane Guezzou
© 2021 Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, Amman, Jordan (http://www.aalalbayt.org) ® All Rights Reserved
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, this work may not be reproduced, stored or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the Great Tafsirs Project, Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought (aalalbayt@aalalbayt.org)