Commentary

وَلَمَّا تَوَجَّهَ تِلْقَاءَ مَدْيَنَ (And when he set out towards Madyan - 28:22). Madyan (مَدْيَنَ ) is the name of a city in Sham (a large territory now consisting of Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine) which was named after Madyan, the son of Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) . This area was outside the empire of the Pharaoh. It was eight days journey from Egypt. When Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) was taken over by the natural fright of the pursuing army of the Pharaoh, which was not in conflict either with the prophethood or with trust in Allah, he resolved to leave Egypt. Perhaps he decided to proceed toward Madyan because it was a habitation of the descendants of Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) and he was also his progeny.

When Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) left Egypt, he was in a condition that he had neither any provisions for the journey nor any baggage, and also he did not know the route. In this state of helplessness he turned to Allah Ta` ala and asked عَسَىٰ رَ‌بِّي أَن يَهْدِيَنِي سَوَاءَ السَّبِيلِ (I hope my Lord will guide me to the straight path - 28:22), Allah Ta` ala accepted this prayer. Scholars have observed that the only food Musa علیہ السلام had during this journey was the leaves of trees. Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ has said that this was the first trial and test of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) . Details of trials and tests of Musa (علیہ السلام) have already been described under Surah Taha while quoting a lengthy hadith.