Ith qala moosa li-ahlihi innee anastu naran saateekum minha bikhabarin aw ateekum (surah Naml: 7)

Tafseer Tafheem-ul-Quran by Syed Abu-al-A'la Maududi

(27:7) (Tell them the story of the time) when Moses said to the people of his house, *8 "I have seen a fire: I may either bring some information from there or a burning brandso that you may warm yourselves." *9

Iz qaala Moosaa li ahliheee inneee aanastu naaran saaateekum minhaa bikhabarin aw aateekum bishihaabin qabasil la`allakum tastaloon

*8) This happened at the foot of Mount Tur when the Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) was travelling along with his family in search of a suitable place for settlement, after passing eight to ten years in Madyan (Midian). From Madyan, whose territory lay on both sides of the Gulf of `Aqabah, on the sea-shores of Arabia and the Sinai Peninsula, he reached the place called Mt. Sinai and Jabal Musa in the southern part of the Peninsula, which at the time of the revelation of the Qur'an was well known as Tur. (See also The Meaning of Qur'an, Vol. VIII Ash-Shu'araa', E.N. 115). The details of this story have already been given in Surah Ta Ha: 9-24 above and will, follow in Surah Al-Qasas: 29-36 below.
*9) The context shows that it was a cold wintry night and the Prophet Moses was passing through unfamiliar land. Therefore, he said to his family, "Let me go and fmd out what habitation it is where a fire is alight, and get some information about the travelling routes and the nearby habitations. I shall at least bring a few embers for you to light a fire and warm yourselves." The place where the Prophet Moses had seen a burning bush is situated at about 5,000 ft. above sea level at the foot of Mt. Tur. Constantine, the first Christian Emperor of the Roman Empire, had a church built in about 365 A.D. right at the spot where this event had occurred. Two hundred years later Emperor Justinian had a monastery built which included the church built by Constantine as well. Both the monastery and the church stand even today and are under the control of the monks of the Greek Orthodox Church. Some photographs of it are given on the opposite page.