And We promised Moses thirty nights, and We completed them with ten. So the appointed time of his Lord was completed in forty nights. And Moses said to his brother Aaron, “Take my place among my people.” How exalted is making promises in friendship! How great is sitting in the promised place of friendship! How sweet is breaking promises in the religion of friendship! Concerning the intimations of this verse the Pir of the Tariqah said, “The promises of lovers, even if broken, show intimacy.” Then he said, “You put me off, You procrastinate, You promise, but You don't come through.” It is not approved to put back the promised time and to add days before the promised moment except in the religion of friendship, for in friendship disloyalty is the same as loyalty, and disdain friendship. Do you not see what the Lord of the Worlds did with Moses in this exchange? He promised him thirty days. When those passed, He added ten more. He added them because Moses was happy with that. Moses counted the thirty days as capital and the ten days as profit. He said, “Indeed, I heard the hard cash of the Real's speech for a second time when He added that.” Come forth, by your life! Stay not away! Give hope of your encounter, then put us off. Promise and put off as you like, for we love you when you put off the passionate. If you fulfill the promise, we will be happy, but we will live with your promise, content for a time. In this journey, Moses waited thirty days without remembering food and drink or being aware of hunger, for he was carried by the Real in a journey of generosity, waiting for whispered prayer. The other time, when he was sent to Khiẓr on the first journey in search of knowledge, he did not have the capacity for a half day of hunger, so he said, “Bring us our food” [18:62]. This is because that was a journey of teaching courtesy and of hardship. At the beginning of the traveling he was carrying; he was not being carried. He was aware of his own suffering, for he was with himself. He saw the marks of hunger because he was in the road of creatures.
