Surah Al-A’raf >> Currently viewing Surah Al-A’raf Ayat 143 (7:143)

Surah Al-A’raf Ayat 143 in Arabic Text

وَلَمَّا جَآءَ مُوسَىٰ لِمِيقَٰتِنَا وَكَلَّمَهُۥ رَبُّهُۥ قَالَ رَبِّ أَرِنِيٓ أَنظُرۡ إِلَيۡكَۚ قَالَ لَن تَرَىٰنِي وَلَٰكِنِ ٱنظُرۡ إِلَى ٱلۡجَبَلِ فَإِنِ ٱسۡتَقَرَّ مَكَانَهُۥ فَسَوۡفَ تَرَىٰنِيۚ فَلَمَّا تَجَلَّىٰ رَبُّهُۥ لِلۡجَبَلِ جَعَلَهُۥ دَكّٗا وَخَرَّ مُوسَىٰ صَعِقٗاۚ فَلَمَّآ أَفَاقَ قَالَ سُبۡحَٰنَكَ تُبۡتُ إِلَيۡكَ وَأَنَا۠ أَوَّلُ ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنِينَ
Wa lammaa jaaa’a Moosa limeeqaatinaa wa kallamahoo Rabbuhoo qaala Rabbi arineee anzur ilaik; qaala lan taraanee wa laakininzur ilal jabali fa inistaqarra makaanahoo fasawfa taraanee; falammaa tajallaa Rabbuhoo liljabali ja’alahoo dakkanw wa kharra Moosaa sa’iqaa; falammaaa afaaqa qaala Subhaanaka tubtu ilaika wa ana awwalul mu’mineen

English Translation

Here you can read various translations of verse 143

Sahih International
And when Moses arrived at Our appointed time and his Lord spoke to him, he said, “My Lord, show me [Yourself] that I may look at You.” [Allah] said, “You will not see Me, but look at the mountain; if it should remain in place, then you will see Me.” But when his Lord appeared to the mountain, He rendered it level, and Moses fell unconscious. And when he awoke, he said, “Exalted are You! I have repented to You, and I am the first of the believers.”

Yusuf Ali
When Moses came to the place appointed by Us, and his Lord addressed him, He said: “O my Lord! show (Thyself) to me, that I may look upon thee.” Allah said: “By no means canst thou see Me (direct); But look upon the mount; if it abide in its place, then shalt thou see Me.” When his Lord manifested His glory on the Mount, He made it as dust. And Moses fell down in a swoon. When he recovered his senses he said: “Glory be to Thee! to Thee I turn in repentance, and I am the first to believe.”

Abul Ala Maududi
And when Moses came at Our appointment, and his Lord spoke to him, he said: ‘O my Lord! Reveal Yourself to me, that I may look upon You!’ He replied: ‘Never can you see Me. However, behold this mount; if it remains firm in its place, only then you will be able to see Me.’ And as soon as his Lord unveiled His glory to the mount, He crushed it into fine dust, and Moses fell down in a swoon. And when he recovered, he said: ‘Glory be to You! To You I turn in repentance, and I am the foremost among those who believe.’

Muhsin Khan
And when Musa (Moses) came at the time and place appointed by Us, and his Lord spoke to him, he said: “O my Lord! Show me (Yourself), that I may look upon You.” Allah said: “You cannot see Me, but look upon the mountain if it stands still in its place then you shall see Me.” So when his Lord appeared to the mountain, He made it collapse to dust, and Musa (Moses) fell down unconscious. Then when he recovered his senses he said: “Glory be to You, I turn to You in repentance and I am the first of the believers.”

Pickthall
And when Moses came to Our appointed tryst and his Lord had spoken unto him, he said: My Lord! Show me (Thy Self), that I may gaze upon Thee. He said: Thou wilt not see Me, but gaze upon the mountain! If it stand still in its place, then thou wilt see Me. And when his Lord revealed (His) glory to the mountain He sent it crashing down. And Moses fell down senseless. And when he woke he said: Glory unto Thee! I turn unto Thee repentant, and I am the first of (true) believers.

Dr. Ghali
And as soon as Mûsa came to Our fixed time and his Lord spoke to him, he said, “Lord! Show me, that I may look at You!” Said He, “You will never see Me; but look at the mountain, so, in case it stays residing in its place, then you will eventually see Me.” Then as soon as his Lord manifested Himself to the mountain, He made it pounded (into dust), and Mûsa collapsed stunned. So, as soon as he recovered, he said, All Extolment be to You! I repent to You, and I am the first of the believers.”.

Abdel Haleem
When Moses came for the appointment, and his Lord spoke to him, he said, ‘My Lord, show Yourself to me: let me see You!’ He said, ‘You will never see Me, but look at that mountain: if it remains standing firm, you will see Me,’ and when his Lord revealed Himself to the mountain, He made it crumble: Moses fell down unconscious. When he recovered, he said, ‘Glory be to You! To You I turn in repentance! I am the first to believe!’

Muhammad Junagarhi
اور جب موسیٰ (علیہ السلام) ہمارے وقت پر آئے اور ان کے رب نے ان سے باتیں کیں تو عرض کیا کہ اے میرے پروردگار! اپنا دیدار مجھ کو کرا دیجئے کہ میں آپ کو ایک نظر دیکھ لوں ارشاد ہوا کہ تم مجھ کو ہرگز نہیں دیکھ سکتے لیکن تم اس پہاڑ کی طرف دیکھتے رہو وه اگر اپنی جگہ پر برقرار رہا تو تم بھی مجھے دیکھ سکو گے۔ پس جب ان کے رب نے پہاڑ پر تجلی فرمائی تو تجلی نے اس کے پرخچے اڑا دیئے اور موسیٰ (علیہ السلام) بےہوش ہوکر گر پڑے۔ پھر جب ہوش میں آئے تو عرض کیا، بےشک آپ کی ذات منزه ہے میں آپ کی جناب میں توبہ کرتا ہوں اور میں سب سے پہلے آپ پر ایمان ﻻنے واﻻ ہوں

Quran 7 Verse 143 Explanation

For those looking for commentary to help with the understanding of Surah Al-A’raf ayat 143, we’ve provided two Tafseer works below. The first is the tafseer of Abul Ala Maududi, the second is of Ibn Kathir.

Ala-Maududi

(7:143) And when Moses came at Our appointment, and his Lord spoke to him, he said: ‘O my Lord! Reveal Yourself to me, that I may look upon You!’ He replied: Never can you see Me. However, behold this mount; if it remains firm in its place, only then you will be able to see Me.’ And as soon as his Lord unveiled His glory to the mount, He crushed it into fine dust, and Moses fell down in a swoon. And when he recovered, he said: ‘Glory be to You! To You I turn in repentance, and I am the foremost among those who believe.’


There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

Ibn-Kathir

143. And when Musa came at the time and place appointed by Us, and his Lord (Allah) spoke to him; he said: “O my Lord! Show me (Yourself), that I may look upon You.” Allah said: “You cannot see Me, but look upon the mountain; if it stands still in its place then you shall see Me.” So when his Lord appeared to the mountain, He made it collapse to dust, and Musa fell down unconscious. Then when he recovered his senses he said: “Glory be to You, I turn to You in repentance and I am the first of the believers.”


Musa asks to see Allah

Allah said that when Musa came for His appointment and spoke to Him directly, he asked to see Him,

﴿رَبِّ أَرِنِى أَنظُرْ إِلَيْكَ قَالَ لَن تَرَانِى﴾

(“O my Lord! Show me (Yourself), that I may look upon You.” Allah said: “You cannot see Me,”) `You cannot’ (Lan) by no means indicates that seeing Allah will never occur, as (the misguided sect of) Al-Mu`tazilah claimed. The Hadiths of Mutawatir grade narrated from the Messenger of Allah, affirm that the believers will see Allah in the Hereafter. We will mention these Hadiths under the explanation of Allah’s statement,

﴿وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ نَّاضِرَةٌ – إِلَى رَبِّهَا نَاظِرَةٌ ﴾

(Some faces that Day shall be radiant. Looking at their Lord.) ﴿75:22-23﴾ In earlier Scriptures, it was reported that Allah said to Musa, “O Musa! No living soul sees Me, but will perish, and no solid but will be demolished.” Allah said here,

﴿فَلَمَّا تَجَلَّى رَبُّهُ لِلْجَبَلِ جَعَلَهُ دَكًّا وَخَرَّ موسَى صَعِقًا﴾

(So when his Lord appeared to the mountain, He made it collapse to dust, and Musa fell down unconscious.) In his Musnad Imam Ahmad recorded from Anas bin Malik that the Prophet said about Allah’s saying;

﴿فَلَمَّا تَجَلَّى رَبُّهُ لِلْجَبَلِ﴾

(And when his Lord appeared to the mountain, )

«هكذا»

(Like this) then he held out the tip of his little finger. At-Tirmidhi recorded this in the chapter of Tafsir for this Ayah, then he said; “This Hadith is Hasan Sahih Gharib.” This was also recorded by Al-Hakim in his Mustadrak through the route of Hamad bin Salamah, and he said; “This Hadith is Sahih according to the criteria of Muslim and they did not record it.” And As-Suddi reported that `Ikrimah reported from Ibn `Abbas about Allah’s saying,

﴿فَلَمَّا تَجَلَّى رَبُّهُ لِلْجَبَلِ﴾

(And when his Lord appeared to the mountain,) Only the extent of the little finger appeared from Him,

﴿جَعَلَهُ دَكًّا﴾

(He made it collapse) as dust;

﴿وَخَرَّ موسَى صَعِقًا﴾

(And Musa fell down unconscious) fainting from it. Ibn Jarir recorded these because of the relation to the word Al-Ghashi.

﴿فَلَمَّآ أَفَاقَ﴾

(Then when he (Musa) recovered his senses) after he lost consciousness,

﴿قَالَ سُبْحَـنَكَ﴾

(he said: “Glory be to You,”) thus, praising, glorifying and honoring Allah since no living soul could see Him in this life and remain alive. Musa’ statement,

﴿تُبْتُ إِلَيْكَ﴾

(“I turn to You in repentance”) means, according to Mujahid, that from asking you to look at you,

﴿وَأَنَاْ أَوَّلُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ﴾

(“and I am the first of the believers.”), among the Children of Israel, according to Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, and Ibn Jarir preferred this view. Or, according to another narration from Ibn `Abbas, the meaning of,

﴿وَأَنَاْ أَوَّلُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ﴾

(“and I am the first of the believers.”), is that `none shall see You (in this life).’ Allah said,

﴿وَخَرَّ موسَى صَعِقًا﴾

(And Musa fell down unconscious.) Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri and Abu Hurayrah narrated a Hadith from the Prophet that is suitable to mention here. As for the Hadith from Abu Sa`id, Al-Bukhari recorded in his Sahih that he said: A Jew came to the Prophet after his face was smacked, and said, “O Muhammad! One of your companions from Al-Ansar smacked me on the face.” The Prophet said,

«ادْعُوه»

(Summon him) and he was summoned. The Prophet asked him,

«لِمَ لَطَمْتَ وَجْهَهُ؟»

(Why did you smack his face) He said, “O Allah’s Messenger! I passed by that Jew and heard him swearing, `No, by He Who has chosen Musa over mankind!’ I said, `Over Muhammad too’, and I became angry and struck his face.” The Prophet said,

«لَا تُخَيِّرُونِي مِنْ بَيْنِ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ فَإِنَّ النَّاسَ يَصْعَقُونَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ فَأَكُونُ أَوَّلَ مَنْ يُفِيقُ، فَإِذَا أَنَا بِمُوسَى آخِذٌ بِقَائِمَةٍ مِنْ قَوَائِمِ الْعَرْشِ، فَلَا أَدْرِي أَفَاقَ قَبْلِي أَمْ جُوزِيَ بِصَعْقَةِ الطُّور»

(Do not prefer me above the Prophets. Verily, on the Day of Resurrection, people will be struck unconscious, and I (feel that I) am the first to wake up. Thereupon I will find that Musa is holding onto a pillar of the Throne (`Arsh of Allah). I will not know if he woke up before me or he received his due (because of his) unconsciousness on (Mount) At-Tur.) Al-Bukhari recorded this Hadith in many locations of his Sahih, as did Muslim and Abu Dawud. As for the Hadith from Abu Hurayrah, Imam Ahmad and the Two Shaykhs (Al-Bukhari and Muslim) collected his narration.

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surah al-a'raf ayat 143
surah al-a'raf ayat 144
surah al-a'raf ayat 145
surah al-a'raf ayat 146
surah al-a'raf ayat 147

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