The Prophets, Their Lives and Their Stories: Moses: Moses' Stick and Its Deeds

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Moses' Stick and Its Deeds As attributed to Al-Bâqir (PUH) that he said: Moses' stick was for Adam before and then it was owned by Jethro and then it was owned by Moses, and it is with us (the Household of Muhammad PUT) and it is a green one just as it was at the moment of cutting, and it can speak if you want it to, it was made for the last Imam of us to do with it as Moses used to do, and it does what is ordered to do, and it can swallow the lying shows, and its jaws would reach between the ground and the roof within forty cubits, and swallow the lying shows with its tongue and it is was made of the buckthorn of paradise, and there is not opposing for the previous opinions that it was owned by Noah and Abraham while here it is mentioned to be owned by Adam, for it is the same, and he (Adam) is the one that brought it from paradise or the one that was revealed upon him, and it was transformed to the hands of purified people by the commandments of God, until it reaches the last owner of it may our souls be a ransom for him, so from Adam to Noah then to Abraham and to Jethro and then to Moses and to our prophet may peace be upon him and upon his Household.
They said that the stick of Moses had other amazing and weird uses and benefits that no one can imagine or even understand or believe, for it can be for one time a light, and in other times it can be fiercy lion, and in another time it can be as a tree with fruit whenever its owner wanted to, and it can be as a bucket to get water with, and when it is stroke against a river or a sea it can make a dry passage through it, and if it was used to strike a mountain it can make it break apart and it kills snakes and lions as well, and at times of hunger the ground can be stroke with it to show foods, and some times it can bse used to drink honey and milk, and it was his (Moses') guide in his way when he was lost, and it was his physician and medicine, and if there was in his way any thieves or snakes or hole it would had guided him to a way that has no dangers in it and it could speak to him with things he might need and so on of such stuff that if one of the people in our time would hear he would say: such stuff makes sad mothers laugh and they are just legends and silly stuff, but for me I do not wonder of such things or even greater than such things when it is attributed to such people like prophets. There is no doubt that with it the rock was stroke and twelve springs arose from it, and it was used to strike the sea and made a way through it and there the pharaoh was doomed with his people and Moses was saved with his people, and it is the great snake for the pharaoh and his folks, and it is ..it is.. it is as it is mentioned in the Quran and in other holy books that came before Quran. We've mentioned before that it is (the stick) above the level of their sayings that it is only a legend or just some exaggerations, because of its deeds with the tricks of the magician of the pharaoh and what they made, this makes us do not disbelieve in its abilities as we mentioned before and God is able to do whatever He wants. They say that when Jethro gave his daughter to Moses for marriage and gave him his sheeps to take care of he said to him: go with these sheeps and when you reach a fork in the road in that location then take your left and not your right even if there were abundant grass because there are a great dragon and I am afraid for you and the sheeps, so then when he reached that place, the sheeps started to take the right side of the road and he tried hardly to make them take the left but he could not, and he got tired and sleepy so he slept while the sheeps were grazing, so then suddenly the dragon arrived and the stick of Moses stood up and fought against it and killed it then got back to its place beside Moses with some blood on it, so when Moses woke up he saw that the stick was covered with blood and the dragon was dead, so then he knew that this stick had abilities from God. Such deeds in such situations is done by itself without commandment. If Moses would throw it and desired a command as he did with the pharaoh in his palace or by a commandment of God then it would be as it is desired, so in the palace of the pharaoh it turned to be a large snake as greater than dragons and with black color and running on four legs with twelve fangs and breathing fire that would burn everything in its way, as it is mentioned in interpretations and some of it was repeated, and it might be as large as a serpent and as light as a djinn and flexible as a snake, and quran had appointed out similar things, so God said in one location: lo! it was a serpent manifest(Al-A`râf:107), and in another location He said: as it had been a demon(Al-Qasas:31) [demon = djinn], and in third location: and lo! it was a serpent, gliding(TaHa:20) [in Arabic, this holy phrase in Quran is more like Snake, and not Serpent, but Pickthall version preferred this expression].
It is mentioned that its length was as the length of Moses, ten cubits, and it is mentioned that when God spoke to him by saying: And what is that in thy right hand, O Moses? He said: This is my staff whereon I lean, and wherewith I bear down branches for my sheep, and wherein I find other uses(TaHa:17-18), so he said it in general for its many purposes and benefits, and maybe he had in mind such purposes as fighting an enemy or killing a snake or correcting the sinner and so on and maybe he did not look at more than such things of its purposes apparently for it was something that only God knows, and for this God told him about some of its secret and said to him: He said: Cast it down, O Moses! So he cast it down, and lo! it was a serpent, gliding(TaHa:19-20), and it is probable that its two branches turned to be its jaws and its hook head turned to be a comb on its back and it was shaking with fangs, so when he saw something weird and strange like this he ran away and did not look back so then his Lord called him: Grasp it and fear not. We shall return it to its former state(TaHa:21), meaning to a stick again, so when he approached closer to it He said to him: grasp it and fear not, so he got his hand into her mouth although he was afraid, and when he did so it turned back into a stick in his hand, then He said to him: And put thy hand into the bosom of thy robe, it will come forth white but unhurt(Al-Naml:12), and so he did and put his hand into his pocket (bosom of his robe) and it turned to be whitish and glancing with a light that was so bright, and when he got it back again into his robe it got back again to its former state, then He said to him: Then these shall be two proofs from your Lord unto Pharaoh and his chiefs. Lo! they are evil-living folk(Al-Qasas:32), he said then: My Lord! Lo! I killed a man among them and I fear that they will kill me. My brother Aaron is more eloquent than me in speech. Therefor send him with me as a helper to confirm me(Al-Qasas:33-34), so then He said to him: We will strengthen thine arm with thy brother, and We will give unto you both power so that they cannot reach you for Our portents. Ye twain, and those who follow you, will be the winners(Al-Qasas:35).

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