وَ لَمَّا جَآءَ مُوۡسٰی لِمِیۡقَاتِنَا وَ کَلَّمَہٗ رَبُّہٗ ۙ قَالَ رَبِّ اَرِنِیۡۤ اَنۡظُرۡ اِلَیۡکَ ؕ قَالَ لَنۡ تَرٰىنِیۡ وَ لٰکِنِ انۡظُرۡ اِلَی الۡجَبَلِ فَاِنِ اسۡتَقَرَّ مَکَانَہٗ فَسَوۡفَ تَرٰىنِیۡ ۚ فَلَمَّا تَجَلّٰی رَبُّہٗ لِلۡجَبَلِ جَعَلَہٗ دَکًّا وَّ خَرَّ مُوۡسٰی صَعِقًا ۚ فَلَمَّاۤ اَفَاقَ قَالَ سُبۡحٰنَکَ تُبۡتُ اِلَیۡکَ وَ اَنَا اَوَّلُ الۡمُؤۡمِنِیۡنَ

When Moses reached at the time appointed by Us and his Lord conversed with him, he pleaded: “Give me the opportunity to see you.” [26] God said: “You shall never be able to see Me. But look at this mountain; if it stays in its place you shall be able to see Me in future.” Then when His Lord revealed His radiance on [one part of the mountain], it shattered it to pieces and Moses fell down unconscious. When he regained consciousness, he said: “Exalted are you. I seek repentance before You and [bear witness that] I am the first of the believers.” [27] (Quran 7:143)

(Excerpt from Quranic Exegesis: Javed Ahmed Ghamidi)

(Translation by Dr Shehzad Saleem)

_________

[26]. This desire was a natural one. For this reason, the Almighty did not rebuke him and only made him understand.

[27]. Why did the Almighty adopt this method? Imam Amin Ahsan Islahi writes:

… The Almighty revealed Himself in this manner to assure Moses (sws) that even mountains are not able to bear the vision of God – mountains which are the most solid and firm structures of this earth; so how can man who is so feeble an entity before these mountains bear this vision? Man has a limited power of tolerance. His eyes can see light; however, if the intensity of this light exceeds a certain limit his eyes are dazed by it and at times he even loses his sight. Similarly, his ears are able to hear sounds; however, his ears can only hear to a certain extent. If the roar of thunder, for example, exceeds a limit it can shatter his ear-drums. The sun is an essential requirement of man; however, its light and heat are only beneficial to him if the sun remains at a certain distance from him and passes on its light and warmth through many many layers and filters of the atmosphere. If some day, the sun comes a little near to the earth, all life forms will be burnt down. So when man is such a feeble entity how can he have the strength and ability to see the pure and untainted being of the Almighty who is absolute light and is beyond and above this universe and what is going on in it? (Amin Ahsan Islahi, Tadabbur-i Quran, vol. 3, 360)