its failure to catch fire was merely due to the intensity of its greenness, the abundance of its moisture, the thickness of its leaves, and the size of its trunk. So he judged its matter based on this, and he stood hoping that something might fall from it so he could take some of it. When that took too long for him, he reached out toward it with a bundle in his hand, intending to take from its flame. When Moses did that, it leaned toward him as if it were seeking him, so he drew back from it in awe. Then he returned and circled it, and it continued to lure him, and he continued to be lured by it, yet nothing was more prompt than its subsiding. His wonder intensified at that, and Moses pondered its affair and said: "It is an inaccessible fire that cannot be taken from, yet it blazes inside the hollow of a tree without burning it." Its subsiding was as sudden as its greatness, in faster than the blink of an eye. When he saw that, he said: "This is indeed a serious matter." Then he judged its affair to be commanded or created; he did not know what to make of it, nor what it was commanded to do, nor who created it, nor why it was created. He stood in bewilderment, not knowing whether to return or stay. While he was in that state, he cast his gaze toward its branch, and behold, it was at its most intense greenness, and there was a brilliant greenness in the sky that he was looking at, covering the darkness. Then the greenness continued to illuminate, brighten, and whiten until it became a brilliant light, a pillar between the heaven and the earth, like the rays of the sun, before which sights fall; whenever he looked at it, it almost snatched away his sight. At that point, his fear and distress intensified, so he placed his hand over his eyes, clung to the ground, and heard the sound and the awe. Yet, he heard at that moment something the likes of which in greatness no listener had ever heard. When Moses reached the point of distress, the terror became intense upon him, and his mind was almost overwhelmed by the intensity of the fear from what he was hearing and seeing, he was called from the tree. It was said: "O Moses!" He answered quickly, though he did not know who had called him, and his quick answer was out of nothing but seeking comfort. He said: "At Your service! I hear Your voice and sense Your presence, but I do not see your place, so where are You?" He said: "Above you." When Moses heard this, he knew that this was only appropriate for his Lord, so he became certain of Him and said: "You are indeed my God, so is it Your speech that I hear, or that of Your messenger?" He said: "Rather, it is I who am speaking to you, so draw near to Me." Moses gathered his hands in his stumbling, then exerted himself until he stood upright. His limbs trembled until his legs shook and staggered, his tongue ceased to function, his heart felt crushed, and not a bone remained in him that could support another; he was like a dead man, except that the spirit of life was running through him. Then he crawled while in terror until he stood near the tree from which he was called." And he mentioned the long hadith.

His saying, the Almighty: "That blessed is whoever is in the fire."

[The First Aspect]

16123 - Yunus ibn Habib narrated to us, Abu Dawud narrated to us, Shu'bah and al-Mas'udi narrated to us, from 'Amr ibn Murrah who heard Abu 'Ubaydah narrating from Abu Musa, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, said: "Indeed, Allah does not sleep, and it is not fitting for Him to sleep. He lowers the scales and raises them; the deeds of the night are raised to Him before the day, and the deeds of the day before the night." Al-Mas'udi added: "And His veil is the Fire; if He were to unveil it, the radiance of His Face would burn everything His gaze reaches." Then Abu 'Ubaydah recited: "That blessed is whoever is in the fire and whoever is around it."