Taha · Makki · ayah 18 of 135

Taha 20:18

قَالَ هِىَ عَصَاىَ أَتَوَكَّؤُا۟ عَلَيْهَا وَأَهُشُّ بِهَا عَلَىٰ غَنَمِى وَلِىَ فِيهَا مَـَٔارِبُ أُخْرَىٰ

“He said, "It is my staff; I lean upon it, and I bring down leaves for my sheep and I have therein other uses."”

Saheeh International

Essence

Asked one short question, Musa answers at length about his staff, as a man answers when he does not want the conversation to end.

A reflection

The long answer of someone who loves the conversation

A man rings his elderly mother every Sunday. She asks if he has eaten. He could say yes and end the call. Instead he tells her what he cooked, where he bought the lamb, how long it took. He is not giving her information. He is staying on the line.

Allah asked Musa one short question: what is that in your right hand? A complete answer was two words: hiya ʿaṣāya, it is my staff. But Musa kept going. I lean on it. I beat down leaves with it for my sheep. And I have other uses for it.

One classical theologian explains why. The answer was complete at 'my staff'. Musa added the rest because he loved to converse with his Lord, and made his answer a means to prolong it. The same commentator adds a second, tender reading of the last phrase. Musa summarised his 'other uses' without listing them, hoping his Lord would ask about them, so that he could hear His speech once more.

That is a picture of prayer as it can be. Not a transaction, quickly completed. A conversation one does not want to end.

Most of our du'a is short and practical. Fix this, give me that, protect them. There is nothing wrong with that; Allah loves to be asked. But Musa's answer suggests another way: lingering. Telling Him things He already knows, simply because you are speaking to Him.

Tonight, after your prayer, stay a little longer than you need to. Tell Allah about your day in detail, as Musa told Him about his staff. Not because He needs the information. Because you do not want to put down the phone.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.