Note 234 — Chapter XII

The bush from whence Moses heard the voice of God is mentioned in the Commentary upon the Koran in the following manner. Moses, travelling with his family from Midian to Egypt, came to the valley of Towa, situated near mount Sinai; his wife fell in labor and was delivered of a son, in a very dark and snowy night; he had also lost his way, and his cattle was scattered from him, when on a sudden he saw a fire by the side of a mountain, which on his nearer approach he found burning in a green bush. The Koran (chap. XX. vv. 9-14) says: “When he saw fire and said to his family: Tarry ye here, for I perceive fire: peradventure I may bring you a brand thereout, or may find a direction in our way by the fire. And when he was come near unto it, a voice called unto him, saying: O Moses! verily I am thy Lord: wherefore put off thy shoes: for thou art in the sacred valley Towa. And I have chosen thee: therefore hearken with attention unto that which is revealed unto thee. Verily I am God; there is no God beside me: wherefore worship me, and perform thy prayer in remembrance of me.”