by
Jannah Firdaus Mediapro
2019
{And We inspired Musa (Moses) (saying), 'Throw your staff',’ and behold! It swallowed up straight away all the falsehoods which they showed.}
(The Holy Quran Surah Al-Araf Verse 117)
Why is it that a garden is sometimes green and sometimes yellow?
Why is it that the deserts are dry and the mountaintops are covered with snow?
Why is it that the color of the sun is like fire when rising and like blood when setting?
Why is it that the moon turns from a beautiful full moon to a slim crescent?
There are so many 'whys' which I cannot find the answer for. All I know is that I was a plant, then I became an inanimate object and then I turned into an animal. I know that my last transformation, from an object to an animal, was one of Allah's great Miracles.
To Prophet Musa AS (Moses)
I was only a staff but to Almighty Allah SWT (God) I was something totally different.
The staff of Musa, that is me……
I am the staff of Prophet Musa AS or Moses. I preceded the Prophet while walking ...I would raise high then fall down onto earth all the way along. I have no mind and I know nothing about "why" or "how".
At first the sun used to provide me with greenness and elasticity, but when I died it gave me strength and solidity, how amazing! Death is supposed to be the end of power and strength for all beings, but for me it was the opposite. I was only a branch of a tree and when I died I became stronger. So, you see that death means the ultimate end of power for some beings and a newborn power for others.
It is both simple and miraculous at the same time. When a branch of a tree dies, it is turned into a staff and a staff does not gain its solidity unless it is completely dead. That is how power is generated from death, the cessation of being, and this is only a modest sign of Allah's Omnipotence. I believe in Allah just like all the plants and all the inanimate objects do, though each of us glorifies Allah in his own special way.
So, it is me the staff of Musa! The most famous staff of all, chosen to be in the hands of Allah's Messenger to Pharaoh.
Anyway, I would rather start from the beginning.
First of all, I was a branch of a tree that was found in the royal garden of Pharaoh. Nobody could say that I belonged to him because we, trees, do not belong to human beings. We only belong to Allah Whom we glorify and worship. We are born from a seed whose father is the water and whose mother is the sun.
The sun! What a beautiful feeling of warmth! It is also wonderful to feel firmness when my roots dig their way down into the soil to meet the cold water that gives me life. It is just great! My roots in the water and my head in the sun, a constant communication with the mother and the father ...what pleasure!
So many people think that we trees do not feel but this is not true because all beings feel. It is only man's vanity that makes him believe himself to be the only being who feels. The only difference between us is that we express our feelings through silence and greenness or through silence and non-greenness. We have special feelings and we have our very special ways to express such feelings. We do not have a will and we do not have the choice. We do not know evil and we do not know goodness. We are brought by Allah into being to perform a certain role without ever making mistakes or creating anything ourselves. To sum up, we are created to be obliged, but this in itself is a great blessing.
At the beginning of creation, Allah offered the trust; all the duties that He has ordained, to the heavens, the earth and the mountains but they declined to bear it and were afraid of it. As for man, out of his injustice to himself and his ignorance of this heavy responsibility, he agreed to bear it. Anyway, I thank Allah that I am one of those who were rescued from bearing this trust and this is a gain in itself.
Some people believe that all creatures other than man, are inferior to man because they are not honored by bearing this trust. To tell you the truth, I am not authorized to say whether this is right or wrong but all I know is that being created as a tree is the best thing that could have ever happened to me. Had I been a man, may Allah forbid, there would have been a probability that I could be a sinner. Surely, to be a staff is better than to be a sinner. To be a staff rescued from Allah's Torment is better than to be a man enraging the Almighty. I thank Allah that I am a tree and it is enough for me to be submissive to Him all my life ...I cannot wish for anything better.
I came from Egypt, and I was meant to teach an Egyptian tyrant a lesson, but let us not go into this now.
I know that life is a big mystery. For instance, I do not know why I love the sun and water and why I bend with the wind. I do not know why I grow when I absorb water or why I die every winter and come back to life every spring. I do not know how other creatures feel when they move about on earth for I have never before tried walking. I told you, for me the whole universe is a mysterious secret, but I know that we glorify Allah and praise Him in our own special ways that will remain forever an unrevealed secret. Other creatures do not know how we glorify Allah and how we prostrate to Him in our own special way. Actually, when we do so, we feel great and I really do not know if this is how human beings feel or not.
Anyway, I was a branch of a tree in the royal garden of Pharaoh.