Quran Universe
20:17

وَمَا تِلۡكَ بِيَمِينِكَ يَٰمُوسَىٰ

Wama tilka biyameenika ya moosa

And what is that in your right hand, O Moses?"

Word by word
  1. وَمَاAnd what
  2. تِلۡكَ(is) that
  3. بِيَمِينِكَin your right hand
  4. يَٰمُوسَىٰO Musa
Taha · 20:17Makkah

What is that in your right hand, Musa?

A question to draw his attention

The question
Allah asksHe already knows
about
the stafffamiliar, ordinary
Why ask
to find outas if He did not know
to focus himsee what We will do with it

Some scholars said Allah asked this to draw Musa's attention to the staff. Others said it was to confirm for him: this is a stick you know well, now watch what We do with it. A miracle was about to break the ordinary.

The phone in your hand. The pen at work. The kitchen knife you chop with every evening. Ordinary things you hold every day. Allah can turn what you already carry into the very thing He uses.

What I have is too ordinary for Allah to use.

Allah starts with what is already in my hand.

Try this

Look at one ordinary tool you use daily and ask: how could I use this for good today?

Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir

"And what is that in your right hand, O Musa? (17)He said: "This is my stick, whereon I lean, and wherewith I beat down branches for my sheep, and wherein I find other uses. (18)(Allah) said: "Cast it down, O Musa! (19)He cast it down, and behold! It was a snake, moving quickly (20)Allah said: "Grasp it and fear not; We shall return it to its former state. (21)

The Stick of Musa turned into a Snake

This was a proof from Allah for Musa and a great miracle. This was something that broke through the boundaries of what is considered normal, thus, it was a brilliant evidence that none but Allah could do. It was also a proof that no one could come with the likes of this (from mankind) except a Prophet who was sent (by Allah). Concerning Allah's statement,

وَمَا تِلْكَ بِيَمِينِكَ يَا مُوسَىٰ

(And what is that in your right hand, O Musa?) Some of the scholars of Tafsir have said, "He (Allah) only said this to him in order to draw his attention to it." It has also been said, "He only said this to him in order to affirm for him what was in his hand. In other words, that which is in your right hand is a stick that you are familiar with. You will see what We are about to do to it now."

وَمَا تِلْكَ بِيَمِينِكَ يَا مُوسَىٰ

(And what is that in your right hand, O Musa?) This is an interrogative phrase for the purpose of affirmation.

قَالَ هِيَ عَصَايَ أَتَوَكَّأُ عَلَيْهَا

(He said: "This is my stick, whereon I lean...") I lean on it while I am walking.

وَأَهُشُّ بِهَا عَلَىٰ غَنَمِي

(and wherewith I beat down branches for my sheep,) This means, 'I use it to shake the branches of trees so that the leaves will fall for my sheep to eat them. ' 'Abdur-Rahman bin Al-Qasim reported from Imam Malik that he said, "[It is] when a man places his staff into a branch and shakes it so that its leaves and fruit will fall without breaking the stick. It is not the same as striking or beating." Maymun bin Mahran also said the same. Concerning his statement,

وَلِيَ فِيهَا مَآرِبُ أُخْرَىٰ

(and wherein I find other uses.) This means other benefits, services and needs besides this. Some of the scholars took upon themselves the burden of mentioning many of these obscure uses. Concerning Allah's statement,

قَالَ أَلْقِهَا يَا مُوسَىٰ

((Allah) said: "Cast it down, O Musa!") "Throw down this stick that is in your right hand, O Musa."

فَأَلْقَاهَا فَإِذَا هِيَ حَيَّةٌ تَسْعَىٰ

(He cast it down, and behold! It was a snake, moving quickly.) This means that the stick changed into a huge snake, like a long python, and it moved with rapid movements. It moved as if it were the fastest type of small snake. Yet, it was in the form of the largest snake, while still having the fastest of movements.

تَسْعَىٰ

(moving quickly.) moving restlessly. Concerning Allah's statement,

سَنُعِيدُهَا سِيرَتَهَا الْأُولَىٰ

(We shall return it to its former state.) the form that it was in, as you recognized it before.