The Night on the Mountain: Musa Speaks to Allah
Closeness to Allah; seeking guidance; the limits of human perception
Of all the moments in the lives of the prophets, tonight's story is about one of the most intimate. It is not about a battle or a flood or a fire. It is about something even greater: a conversation between a human being and his Creator. Tonight, we stand with Musa (AS) on a mountain, where the distance between earth and heaven became as thin as a breath.
After the miracle of the sea, Bani Isra'il were free. They camped in the desert of Sinai, a vast wilderness of rock and sand. They had escaped slavery, but they did not yet have the laws and guidance they would need to build a just society. For that, Allah called Musa to a meeting that would last forty nights.
"And We made an appointment with Musa for thirty nights and perfected them by adding ten, so the term of his Lord was completed as forty nights."
Musa turned to his brother Harun (AS) before leaving: "Take my place among my people, do right, and do not follow the way of the corrupters." Then he climbed Mount Sinai alone.
Imagine the climb. The rocky path. The thin air. The silence of a mountain so high that the world below becomes small and quiet. With each step upward, the noise of the world faded, and the presence of something far greater grew stronger.
At the summit, Allah spoke to Musa. Not through an angel. Not through a dream. Directly. The Quran calls Musa "Kalimullah," the one to whom Allah spoke directly. This is a title given to no other prophet.
What did Musa hear? We know only what the Quran reveals. Allah gave him the tablets, alwah, inscribed with guidance and explanation for all things: laws for justice, rules for worship, principles for how people should treat each other. These tablets were the foundation of the Torah, the scripture that would guide Bani Isra'il.
But in the midst of this extraordinary closeness, Musa's human heart wanted even more. He asked the question that lives at the deepest core of every believing soul:
"Rabbi arini anzhur ilayk."
"My Lord, show me Yourself so that I may look at You."
Think about this request. Musa had already seen miracles that no other person had witnessed. He had spoken directly with Allah. He had received revelation. And yet his heart yearned for more, to see his Lord. It was not a question born of doubt. It was a question born of love. The more Musa knew of Allah, the more he wanted to know.
Allah's answer was gentle but firm: "You will not see Me. But look at the mountain. If it remains in its place, then you will see Me."
Musa turned to look at the mountain. And then Allah revealed just a fraction, a fragment, of His glory to the mountain. The Quran says: "When his Lord appeared to the mountain, He made it level, and Musa fell unconscious."
The mountain, one of the strongest things in all of creation, a mass of rock and stone that had stood since Allah formed the earth, was reduced to dust. Not cracked. Not broken. Leveled. Completely flattened, as if it had never existed. And this was only a glimpse of the divine glory.
And Musa, the mightiest prophet of his time, the man who had stood before Pharaoh without flinching, who had parted the sea with his staff, fell to the ground unconscious.
When Musa awoke, his first words were: "Glory be to You! I have repented to You, and I am the first of the believers."
He understood now. Human eyes, human minds, human bodies, they are not made to perceive Allah in this world. Not because Allah is hiding, but because our capacity to receive is limited. You cannot pour an ocean into a teacup. The teacup is not flawed; it is simply not built to hold an ocean.
But one day, in the Hereafter, the believers will be given the capacity to see and know Allah in ways that are impossible in this life. That is one of the great promises of Jannah, not just gardens and rivers, but closeness to the Creator Himself.
Musa descended from the mountain carrying the tablets, his face said to be radiating light from his encounter with the divine. He had been given a treasure: the law that would shape a civilization, written by the hand of Allah Himself.
In the Shia tradition, the night on the mountain carries deep resonance. Just as Musa received the Torah on Sinai, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) received the Quran over twenty-three years, and the night of its first revelation, Laylat al-Qadr, is considered the holiest night of the year. The relationship between prophet and scripture, between the guide and the guidance, is central to the Shia understanding of Islam.
Imam Ali (AS) said: "I asked the Messenger of Allah about the sunnah. He said: Knowledge is my capital, intellect is the basis of my religion, love is my foundation, yearning is my mount, remembrance of Allah is my companion, trust is my treasure, grief is my friend, knowledge is my weapon, patience is my cloak, contentment is my booty, poverty is my pride, asceticism is my profession, conviction is my strength, truthfulness is my intercessor, obedience is my sufficiency, and struggle is my way."
This is the spirit of Musa on the mountain: not satisfied with partial knowledge, always yearning for more closeness, always climbing higher. That yearning, that refusal to settle for less than the deepest possible connection with Allah, is the mark of a true seeker.
Tonight, if you step outside and look up at the stars, know that the same Allah who spoke to Musa on the mountain is listening to you right now. You do not need a mountain. You do not need a burning bush. You need only a sincere heart and the words "Rabbi arini," my Lord, let me know You more.
Key Verse
Wa lamma ja'a Musa li miqatina wa kallamahu Rabbuhu, qala Rabbi arini anzhur ilayk, qala lan tarani wa lakinunzhur ilal jabali fa inistaqarra makanahu fa sawfa tarani, fa lamma tajalla Rabbuhu lil jabali ja'alahu dakkan wa kharra Musa sa'iqa "And when Musa arrived at Our appointed time and his Lord spoke to him, he said: My Lord, show me Yourself that I may look at You. He said: You will not see Me, but look at the mountain; if it remains in its place, then you will see Me. When his Lord appeared to the mountain, He made it level, and Musa fell unconscious." Al-A'raf (7:143)
Reflection Questions
- Why do you think Musa asked to see Allah, even though he already had so many miracles? What does his request teach us about the relationship between knowledge and love?
- The mountain was destroyed by even a small glimpse of Allah's glory. What does this tell us about how great and powerful Allah truly is?
- How can we feel close to Allah even though we cannot see Him? What are the ways you personally feel connected to Allah?