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ʾani qdhifīhi fī t-tābūti fa-qdhifīhi fī l-yammi fa-l-yulqihi l-yammu bi-s-sāḥili yaʾkhudhhu ʿaduwwun lī wa-ʿaduwwun lahū wa-ʾalqaytu ʿalayka maḥabbatan minnī wa-li-tuṣnaʿa ʿalā ʿaynī
“Put him in the casket, and cast it into the river. Then the river will cast it on the bank, and he shall be picked up by an enemy of Mine and an enemy of his.” And I made you endearing, and that you might be reared under My [watchful] eyes.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Ta Ha – Verses 38 - 39
38. “When We inspired in your mother what must be inspired.”
39. “(Saying) that: ‘Cast him into a chest, then cast it into the sea, then the sea shall cast him up on the bank; there shall take him one (who is an) enemy to Me and an enemy to him.’ And I cast down upon you love from Me (that every one may love you), in order that you might be brought up (and trained) in My sight.”
In this verse, the revelation attracts the attention of Moses to the following facts. It says:
This holy verse indicates that all the ways, which were ended to the deliverance of Moses (as) from the rips of Pharaohs in that age, were wholly taught to his mother. Upon the meaning of this verse, in Jawami‘-ul-Jami‘, the commentary, it is cited that: at the time when We inspired your mother whatever was inspirable; that inspiration caused your deliverance from being killed; or that We sent an angel to her, in the same manner as We sent it to Mary.
The purpose of ‘inspiration’ here is to inspire something to the heart, not the idiomatic term of revelation which is specially adapted for Divine prophets, since Messengership is particular to men, as Surah Yusuf, No. 12, verse 109 says:
There was predicted for the people of Pharaoh that a child from the Children of Israel would come into existence who could destroy the kingdom of Pharaoh. In order to prevent that happening, Pharaoh had ordered his men to kill the sons of the Children of Israel and to keep their daughters alive to work as slave-maids and serving wenches for them. However, Moses’ mother felt that the life of her newborn child was in danger. At that moment the Lord, Who had appointed that child for a great raise, inspired in her heart as follows:
The Arabic term /tabut/ means a wooden chest. It does not always mean, as some people think, the coffin wherein the dead bodies are put. Next to it, the Qur’an adds implying that the sea is commissioned to cast it up over the bank so that, at last, the one who is the enemy of Allah and the enemy of him takes him and fosters him in his lap. The verse continues saying:
And, in view of the fact that Moses (as) should be kept in a protective circle to be safe for the way he had in front of him full of ascent and descent, Allah cast a ray of His affection on Moses so that whoever saw him loved him in a manner that not only the one would not be willing to Kill him but also he might not accept that any harm should hurt him. The Qur’an in this regard says:
It has been said that the midwife of Moses (as) was one of the people of Pharaoh. She wanted to report his birth to the cruel men of the government. But, for the first time, as soon as her eyes cast on the eyes of the newly born child, it seemed a light glittered from the baby’s eyes which brightened the depth of the heart of the midwife so that she loved him in a way that all kinds of evil thought departed from her mind. At the end of this holy verse, the Qur’an refers to the aim of the event.
It says:
By the way, this verse leads us to the concept that whenever Allah intends an action to be done, He also provides its necessary means. Here, in order to protect Moses (as), He inspires in his mother that she casts her child into the sea. Then He commands to the sea that it takes the chest carrying the child on the bank. He casts into the enemy’s heart that he keeps him and He puts affection of the child in his heart. Imam Baqir (as) said:
“Allah put such a love of Moses in people’s hearts that whoever saw him (as) was interested in him.” 2
Footnotes