Surah 7. Al-A'raf, Ayah 142

According to several of the Prophet's Companions, and particularly Ibn 'Abbas, the first thirty nights were to be spent by Moses in spiritual preparation, including fasting, whereupon the Law would be revealed to him in the remaining ten (Zamakhshari and Razi; see also Manar IX, 119 ff.). In Arabic usage, a period of time designated as "nights" comprises the days as well.

The forty nights' exclusion of Moses on the Mount may be compared with the forty days fast of Jesus in the wilderness before he took up his ministry (Matt. iv, 2). In each case the Prophets lived alone apart from their people, before they came into the full blaze of the events of their Ministry.

When for any reason the man of God is absent from his people, his duty of leadership (khilafat) should be taken up by his brother,-not necessarily a blood-brother, but one of his society or brotherhood. The deputy should discharge it in all humility, remembering three things: (1) that he is only a deputy, and bound to follow the directions of his Principal, (2) that right and justice are of the essence of power, and (3) that mischief gets its best chance to raise its head in the absence of the Principal, and that the deputy should always guard against the traps laid for him in the Principal's absence.