In The Valley

He heard the good word, then took off his sandals
And silently stood there in awe
Of how came the order to throw down his staff;
And marveled to see what he saw:

What once was his staff now crawled in the dirt,
A serpent forbidding and frightful;
He turned on his heels and started to flee
For reasons immensely insightful.

Then came the command unexpected, it was
To stay and toward it draw near
To grasp it; he thrust down his hand in its jaws
Without any semblance of fear.

You know it behooves inquisitive minds
To ponder the reason just why
One settles to flee from peril, yet finds
Repose in instruction from high.

I hear it's the wisdom of prophets to hold
Respect for the nature of things,
While knowing that nature obeys what it's told
From where all of destiny springs.

"What is, is just not; what is not, then, is;"
Is everything this story brings.

Inspired by what I heard on November 23, 2014 at Darul Qasim's weekly exegesis of the Quran by Shaykh Mohammed Amin Khowladia (Surah Al-Qasas, Session 5).