So when they had passed…

62. ﴾So when they had passed [a distance], Moses said to his lad, “Bring us our lunch, we verily have found fatigue from this journey of ours.”

63. He [his lad] said, “Did you see when we took shelter at the rock? I forgot the fish, and none but Satan made me forget to remember it. And it took its course through the sea in a strange way.”

64. He [Moses] said, “That was what we were seeking.” So they went back tracing their footsteps.﴿

The loss of the fish near the rock was a sign from Allah swt through which Moses pbuh was alerted that he bypassed the goal. And it originally was not a sign for Moses pbuh, meaning that Moses did not know that his loss of the fish was an indicator of the Virtuous Servant; otherwise he would not have asked Joshua to bring him the fish to eat it as food. So how can anyone reasonably think that Moses pbuh would eat the sign that would guide him to the goal knowing that it is his sign which brings him to it, especially considering that he is commanded by Allah to reach the Virtuous Servant and follow him. As for what Moses pbuh said,

﴾He [Moses] said, “That was what we were seeking.” So they went back tracing their footsteps.﴿,

by that he meant the Virtuous Servant whom they had seen at the rock.

And the matter is as follows, so whoever has ears for hearing then let him hear, and whoever has a heart for understanding then let him understand: Allah swt speaks in everything but people are negligent, turning toward themselves and their desires, so the way for the words of Allah swt with the prophets is not only through inspiration or through making them hear articulation in their ears or meanings in their hearts, but rather there is the greatest way which is (I did not see anything unless I saw Allah with it, before it, and after it). So when Moses pbuh found out that they lost the fish near the rock, he knew that it was a sign from Allah swt, otherwise they were at extreme fatigue and hunger,

﴾Moses said to his lad, “Bring us our lunch, we verily have found fatigue from this journey of ours.”﴿,

so why would the will of the Compassionate, Merciful Lord here be that they lose their food? This is when Moses pbuh knew what Allah wanted to tell him, and he heard the words of Allah in this incident which were that your food which you came requesting (the knowledge) is there where you had lost your materialistic food (the fish),

﴾He [Moses] said, “That was what we were seeking.” So they went back tracing their footsteps.﴿.

Moses pbuh knew that the servant he passed near the rock was the Virtuous Servant whom Moses pbuh came requesting in order to learn from him.

And just as the loss of the fish was a sign and a proof of the food of the spirit that the Virtuous Servant carries, the life of the fish and its taking its own course through the sea quickly and in a subtle way (took its course through the sea and left) and also by a Divine miracle (in a strange way)-which a servant has the right to be astonished by due to what he sees from the ability of Allah swt-is also a sign and a proof of the Virtuous Servant, because Allah has made the life of the fish be where the Virtuous Servant was lying in order to indicate that the Virtuous Servant (the junction of the two seas) whom Moses pbuh came requesting knowledge from is the eye of life, since the knowledge –which is related to the Hereafter– is the real life,

56. ﴾I have not created the Jinn nor the Mankind but to worship Me.﴿,

-Surat Adh-Dhariyat (The Winnowing Winds) 51.

which means to know,

64. ﴾And the life of this world is but a distraction and a game, and verily the home of the Hereafter is the Life, if only they knew.﴿.

-Surat Al-Ankaboot (The Spider) 29.

Abu Abdullah pbuh said,

Moses stood on the platform and his platform had three steps, so he said to himself that Allah did not create a creation more knowledgeable than him, so Gabriel came to him and said, “You have been afflicted, so get down as there is one in this earth who knows more than you, so request him,” so he relayed to Joshua, “I have been afflicted so make food for us and let us set out.”

He pbuh said,

So as they were walking, they reached a sheikh who was lying down with his cane placed by his side and there was a cloak on him and if he covered his head with it, his legs would show and if he covered his legs with it, his head would show. So Moses stood up in prayer and said to Joshua, “Guard me.” So a drop dropped from the sky in the trawl so the fish quivered, and then it started jumping from the trawl into the sea, and it is the saying of Allah swt ﴾so it took its course through the sea and left.﴿ then a bird came and landed on the seashore, then he put his beak [in the water] and said, “O Moses, what you took from the knowledge of your Lord is what the back of my beak carried from the entire ocean.” He then stood up and walked and Joshua followed him, and Joshua forgot the trawl. And moses became tired as time passed, so he said, ﴾“Bring us our lunch, we verily have found fatigue from this journey of ours.”﴿

Until he said,

﴾And it took its course through the sea in a strange way.﴿ So Moses went back tracing his footsteps until he reached him and he was as Moses had left him, lying down, so Moses said to him, “Peace be upon you,” so he said, “And peace be upon you O knowledgeable one of the Children of Israel.” He then got up and took his cane with his hand so Moses said to him, “I have been ordered to follow you so that you may teach me from that which you had been taught in guidance,” so he said just as narrated upon you, ﴾“You will not be able to have patience with me.”﴿^[1]

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