Islam Folklore The Staff of Prophet Moses (Musa) & The Wizards of Pharaoh Vol 1
by
Muhammad Vandestra
{And We inspired Musa (Moses) (saying), 'Throw your staff',’ and behold! It swallowed up straight away all the falsehoods which they showed.} (Al-A'raf: 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 Musa I was only a staff but to Almighty Allah I was something totally different.
The staff of Prophet Musa (Moses), that is me.
I am the staff of Musa. 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.
To tell you the truth, I never liked Pharaoh. I used to see him wandering in the garden. Sometimes he used to stand in my shade and I would hear him uttering words of blasphemy denying the existence of Almighty Allah. This enraged me and made me shiver with disgust. How come he would stand in my shade that is nothing but a blessing from Allah, and yet arrogantly deny the Giver of such a blessing!
I am not the only one, who would shudder when hearing words of ingratitude and heresy uttered by man, for all other creatures would do the same thing.
We, plants, have accepted to be tied down to earth and to be in a lower rank in the hierarchy of creatures, because freedom to us meant the probability of falling into sin and this we could not bear. But what about man; the being who was blessed with freedom and with the ability to choose and who has the potential to be the top of all creatures! How can he receive such blessings with denial and ingratitude! Do you realize now why I shuddered whenever Pharaoh would pass near my stem or would put his hand on me? And why I suffocated whenever his breath would blow near me?
I cannot say I hated Pharaoh because we, plants, do not know hatred. We know pain but hatred is not in our dictionary.
On the other hand, there were three people I used to like having them under my shade: the wife of Pharaoh, an Egyptian man from Pharaoh's relatives and a boy from Banu Isra'il. These three people used to gather under my shade and I used to feel satisfaction whenever they came near me. Maybe I liked them because they believed in Allah even though they never announced it. In the palace of Pharaoh no one was allowed to believe in any god but in Pharaoh himself. How arrogant he was! He was a tyrant who would not hesitate to do anything he pleased. Nothing could stop him. Killing was very easy for him, Despite all this, we trees never feared him. Yes, we would shiver with disgust from him, but we never feared him and we never feared to announce our faith in Allah, the One and Only.
Anyway, winter, the time of my death, was approaching. Imagine this, Pharaoh saw us dying every winter and coming back to life every spring and yet he completely denied the existence Of the Day of Judgment!
We, trees, offer a constant proof of the miracle of death and resurrection to all people but unfortunately few people realize the truth. Anyway, there were only three people in the palace of Pharaoh who realized this truth.
The number of believers was very few and this made us feel as if we were living in exile.
Winter came and with it came my death.
Trees die while standing. They lose their green color and their leaves fall to the ground. I felt my leaves leaving my branches and starting their journey in the air until they safely reached the earth. Actually, trees do not feel sad when they die, though they may give the impression of grief from the outside.
We, trees, do not see or hear or talk and in winter we glorify Allah and we prostrate to Him but it takes a longer time than usual.
The first days of winter passed smoothly, but one night a violent storm blew and there was thunder and lightening. I did not know what happened after this. All I knew was that a spark came down from heaven unto the garden of Pharaoh. It fell on my head and so I was split into two and I burnt. In this way, I fell down upon the earth. The rain then poured down extinguishing the fire that was kindled on my tips. Later on, when the storm was over, the destruction caused by my fall became clear. With my heavy weight, I almost destroyed half the trees in the royal garden of Pharaoh.
I also destroyed part of Pharaoh's temple where he used to retire and contemplate, though I could swear, if I am allowed to swear, that Pharaoh was too foolish to think or contemplate. He was fond of open areas and gardens and he would always give others the impression that he was in deep meditation. His arrogance fooled him into believing himself to be the wisest and most intelligent person on earth, but the truth was totally the opposite, for he was nothing but a tyrant wearing the mask of a clown. Being blinded with his own vanity, he was almost mindless and I used to wonder how he could think of himself as an intelligent being at all!
Pharaoh was not effective at all in ruling his people, and this system was under the control of Haman. His only concern was pursuing those who might dare to oppose him. In other words, Pharaoh was the one ruled not the only ruler as he allowed himself to think. It is something like mud that surrounds the roots. The roots believe themselves to be grasping the mud in order to attain their food and water, whereas the truth is that the mud is the thing that holds the roots and surrounds them and provides them with what it does not have.
Anyway, the ruling system of Pharaoh was mainly based upon subjugation and nonsense, just like any totalitarian regime that is built upon sanctifying the individual and denying the existence of Allah. Such regimes are nothing but gates to destruction and they always die out because of a catastrophe from heaven which represents Divine Justice.
Pharaoh was not a blind man, yet he lacked the power of mental perception, i.e. insight. He could not understand that this storm was only meant to be a warning for him from Allah. He could not understand that Allah was too Merciful to punish him without sending him many warnings before. No, he was too foolish to understand this and he only thought this storm to be a coincidence. So with great indifference he gave his orders to uproot the destroyed trees, to replant the garden and to repair his temple.
Anyway, this was how I was moved from the royal garden of Pharaoh to a wood merchant. The latter was so happy to have me, for I was of the expensive kind of wood. So he dedicated his time to cutting and shaping me into idols and staffs. He then gave a group of those staffs as a gift to the royal palace.
So, after being a tree, which is one unit, I was split into a number of pieces; idols and staffs. Musa then carne to acquire one of my staffs and this was how I became a staff in the hand of Musa.
Of course, to me the whole thing was different. First of all I was a tree, a living plant, then I became a staff, an inanimate object and this was not the same as before. In my new condition, I was given the power to hate Pharaoh and to hate his tyranny. Some may think that objects cannot feel, but this however is not true for they do feel but in their own special way. Yes, they may not grow or move, but inside they feel.
Thus, I became the staff of Musa.
Musa used to take me when going out because in the palace nobody was allowed to carry a staff except Pharaoh. The staff of Pharaoh was so distinguished. It was a short one made from black ebony and gold and it was adorned with jewels. Nevertheless, despite its ostentatious appearance, the staff of Pharaoh could not help feeling miserable.
Objects can feel happiness and misery. They are usually miserable when they are being used for purposes that contradict the natural laws of the universe that Allah prescribed.
I used to hear the staff of Pharaoh glorifying Allah and cursing Pharaoh whenever he uttered words of heresy or ingratitude towards Allah the Lord of the Worlds. Despite all this, and against its own will, this staff was the symbol of Pharaoh's power. Whenever he signaled with it, this would mean a royal decree coming in the way. For this reason, no one was permitted to hold a staff in the palace for who would dare to share power with Pharaoh?
So, Musa used to keep me in his room and whenever he went out, he would take me with him. At first, he used to forget me a lot for he was not used to carrying a staff at all. A staff, at that time, was only important to shepherds, old people and aristocrats and Musa did not belong to any of these groups. This explains why he sometimes used to forget me. One time, he forgot me at Harun's house and another time he forgot me with Pharaoh's wife who was like a second mother to him. He also forgot me once in the house of an old lady from Banu Isra'il whom he used to visit and each time they would carry me back to him.
Time passed, then one day there carne a man running, from the farthest end of the city. He said, "O Musa (Moses)! Verily, the chiefs are taking counsel together about you, to kill you, so escape. Truly, I am to you of those who give sincere advice."
This was a warning to Musa, but at that time I could not understand why they were conspiring to kill him. Later on, I learnt that Musa had struck an Egyptian man with his fist and had unintentionally killed him. There had been a quarrel between an Egyptian man and a man from among Musa's people. The latter asked for Musa's help and so he interfered but without ever meaning to kill the other man.
Anyway, the Egyptian man fell dead and the story spread throughout the country. It was known to be an unintentional killing, yet there was a new factor that influenced the whole case.
Musa never worshiped Pharaoh and he never worshiped the multi-gods of the Egyptians and most important of all, he was from Banu Isra'il. There was a prophecy that said that one day, a man from Banu Isra'il would come and be the cause of destroying Pharaoh. Pharaoh believed himself to be Egypt and so he considered that any threat to him would be a threat to Egypt as a whole.
As a matter of fact, that incident brought the old prophecy into the minds of Pharaoh and his men, who were eagerly waiting for the chance to kill Musa. They thought that by doing so they would be preserving the country's security and this was the reason they gave for the decision to kill Musa.
At that time of his life, Musa was worshiping Allah in secret. He never discussed this matter with Pharaoh and yet in spite of this, he was still sentenced to death. At this point, Almighty Allah sent this good man to Musa who was from Pharaoh's people. He came running to warn him about their evil intentions. On hearing this, Musa snatched me quickly and quickly escaped from Pharaoh's palace. His main concern at that time was to leave Egypt.
For a very long time, Musa kept on walking.
While walking, I always preceded him; one step for me and two steps for him. Night fell and Musa stopped to rest in the middle of a dreary desert.
I felt that Musa was relieved that I was with him, for I could serve him as a means of defense. Anyway, he put me on his chest and he slept on the ground.
Musa was so frightened and worried when he was leaving Egypt and so he prayed Allah to save him from the polytheists and he was actually granted his wish. He traveled a long distance from Egypt then he slept for a while in the desert. The hot sun soon woke him up and so once again he started his journey.
Again, one step for me and two steps for Musa.
While walking, I discovered that I had many uses. I was a staff, a tent and a means for defense. I could feel it whenever Musa felt tired, for his sweat would fall on my rough wooden skin. Anyway, when he was tired, he used to stop, take off his cloak, stick me in the ground and then hang his cloak over me and sit under the shade. So, when I was a branch in a tree, I was able to grant people shade and despite my death and my transformation, I could still grant them the same privilege.
For days we kept on walking. Sometimes Musa would stop to eat from the trees and sometimes he would stop to drink from an old well.
Finally, we reached a wooded village that was surrounded by green pastures. When I saw this village, I remembered my past life and I could not help glorifying Allah Who has created everything on the earth from the dust of earth itself.
To tell you the truth, I could not figure out how dust could be the origin of everything on earth. How could it be the origin of wood, granite and jewels for instance?
How could the surface of a garden be green, and then be the bottom of a river and then be turned into rocks? It is really amazing. For us trees it is a mysterious puzzle but I do not know if it is the same thing for human beings or not.
Anyway, this village was called Madyan. When we reached Madyan, Musa helped two women to water their flocks. He then left them and headed towards the shade where he sat thinking about his past and present life. I heard him then say, "My Lord! Truly, l am in need of whatever good that You bestow on me!"
I could not actually understand his prayer but it appeared to me most likely that it was his own way of prostration as a human being. It is really a big mystery, the way different creatures prostrate to Allah; the birds, the bees, the flowers, the clouds, the thunder, the lightening, the Jinn and the human beings…” Of each one He (Allah) knows indeed his Salat (prayer) and his glorification." So, every creature glorifies Allah in the way Allah has taught him.
An hour later, one of the two women whom Musa had helped, came to him walking shyly and said to him, "Verily, my father calls you that he may reward you for having watered (our flocks) for us."
So, Musa got up and went with her.
After a short distance, we entered a simple house that appeared to be the house of a shepherd. The man was so old yet he was so handsome. Musa sat in front of him, put me on the ground, and told him his story about Pharaoh and his men.
The man then said to Musa, "Fear you not. You have escaped from the people who are Zalimun (polytheists, disbelievers, and wrong-doers)."
In Madyan, Musa was so far from Egypt and from the tyranny of Pharaoh and so he realized that Allah had responded to his prayer. Musa thus praised Allah and thanked Him then he sat silently. A womanly voice was then heard in the room, as one of the two daughters was saying to her father, "O my father! Hire him! Verily, the best of men for you to hire is the strong, the, trustworthy.”
This woman had never known Musa before, yet she praised him because she really felt him to be a good man. This of course made a good impression on Musa.
The old man then said to Musa, "I intend to wed one of these two daughters of mine to you on condition that you serve me for eight years, but if you complete ten years, it will be (a favour) from you. But I intend not to place you under a difficulty. If Allah will, you will find me one of the righteous."
In reply to this offer Musa said, "That (is settled) between me and you whichever of the two terms I fulfill, there will be no injustice to me, and Allah is Surety over what we say."
So, in a very short time the course of Musa's life was changed from a chased, frightened, lonely man, to a secure, safe and married man. So, Allah not only granted Musa his wish, but He has also bestowed upon him many other blessings.
Musa only wished to be rescued from the polytheists, but he was granted much more than this, for besides security and safety, he was also granted marriage and happiness. His wife had a very good character and she was predestined to live with such a righteous man and be a very helpful wife for Musa in the end.
Anyway, Musa leaned me against the wall of his room and with my closed eyelids, I went on discovering the house we were in and I found that it was a house of very righteous people who believed in Allah and worshiped Him sincerely.
We spent ten years in Madyan.
Those ten years were a very good chance for Musa to think and contemplate the universe and its Lord. During this period, Musa worked as a shepherd for the old man, his father-in-law, and every morning we would go out early with the flock to the wide pastures. It was a great chance for us to enjoy the beauty of nature. Every morning we watched the rising sun and smelt the grass and the scented mountainous flowers. The sheep would run happily one after the other as if the breeze was tickling them to run and they would then stop to eat from the grass, then run on again. Musa would stretch his hand while holding me and point with me to the direction that could guarantee the flock food and safety. I used to watch the whole scene and glorify Almighty Allah Who has created all this beauty.
