Examining Ayat 12 in Surat Ta-Ha.

[Abu Hafsat]

 As-Salaam alaikum,

In verse/ayat 12 of chapter 20 of the Holy Qur'an, Surat Ta-Ha, Almighty Allah says: --

         ''Verily, I am your Lord!

            Therefore (in My Presence) Take off

            your shoes: you are in the sacred valley of Tuwa 

           [said to be just below Mont Sinai]''.

Our elders of spiritual unveiling have always understood tis verse/ayat as more than a command of physical etiquette. For them, it is a call to strip the heart of attachments, to step barefoot upon the valley of intimacy with the Real. In other words, the symbolism of removing the shoes is interpreted as 'Emptying the heart of the concerns of the world,' so that one remains with the Real Lord of the Cosmos.

When Sayyadina Musa, alaihi Salaat-Wassalam, heard the opening words:

  ''Indeed, I  (Inni), I am (Ana) your Lord'', 

    he knew that no one but Allah could speak with both Inni and Ana together in succession. Thus he realized: 'You are the One who always was and always will be.'