28/29-35 — The call in the valley
"When Moses had completed the term and set out with his family, he made out a fire on the side of the Mount (al-Ṭūr)… When he came to it, he was called from the tree in the blessed spot on the right side of the valley: 'O Moses! I am God, the Lord of all beings.'"
ءَانَسَ — root أ-ن-س: to catch sight of and make out, to grow warm to. From the same root come ins (human being) and uns (closeness). The lexicographers record for the word the sense of sensing a light from a distance.
And what the fire was wanted for is stated in the verse: laʿallī ātīkum minhā bi-khabarin aw jadhwatin mina'n-nāri laʿallakum taṣṭalūn — word, or an ember to warm yourselves by. That is, he goes for an ordinary need.
I record this as an observation: the call comes not in a place that had been sought out — but on the road, at a point turned aside to for a daily need.
| Sign | Expression | Reaction |
|---|---|---|
| The staff | Fa-lammā raʾāhā tahtazzu ka-annahā jānnun wallā mudbiran wa lam yuʿaqqib | He fled without looking back |
| The hand | Usluk yadaka fī jaybika takhruj bayḍāʾa min ghayri sūʾ | — |
وَلَمْ يُعَقِّبْ — taʿqīb: to turn back and look, to come back. That is, the flight is a complete flight.
Janāḥ (wing), when it is used of a human being, means "the arm, the side" and the lexicographers explain this idiom as a person's gathering himself together, coming out of a shudder. They rest it on the picture of a bird that spreads its wings when startled and folds them again when it settles.
"My brother Aaron (Hārūn) is clearer of tongue than I am; send him with me as a support so that he may confirm me."
رِدْء — root ر-د-أ: a support, a helper who holds from behind. The lexicographers explain the word by a prop set behind something so that it does not topple over.
I record this as an observation: the request is not that the burden be shared — it is to be confirmed. Yuṣaddiqunī. And the ground given is practical: that the tongue is clearer.
سَنَشُدُّ عَضُدَكَ بِأَخِيكَ — "We shall strengthen your arm with your brother." ʿAḍud — the upper arm. Again a bodily picture: support is told as the strengthening of an arm.