His word: {in the blessed spot}1—this is the Greatest Orphan, al-Miqdad—peace be upon him. The address in this aspect falls upon the Informed One.
As for what the People of the Outward related regarding Moses: that there were forty miles between him and the Fire, yet he thought it was near. When he walked toward it, Safra said to him: "To whom do you leave me, O Moses, and depart?" He replied: "To the One whom the mother of Moses left him with when she cast him into the sea." She asked him: "Speak to me so I do not feel lonely." So he spoke to her while she was behind him. When he grew distant from her, God the Almighty inspired Gabriel—peace be upon him: "Descend and converse with Safra so she does not feel lonely." Gabriel descended and addressed her in the tongue of Moses, in Hebrew.
The commoners said: When he reached the Fire, his heart was occupied with her [Safra] because he had left her behind and knew not what happened to her. God the Almighty communed with him: {Indeed, I am your Lord, so remove your sandals. Indeed, you are in the sacred valley of Tuwa}2. He intended by "sandals" the wife—meaning: remove the love of Safra from your heart; this is according to them.
Another aspect according to them: Moses—exalted be his glory—had sandals on his feet made of untanned donkey skin. When he reached the sacred, purified valley, the call came: "Remove your sandals," for they are impure and not fit to tread in this place.
A group of them said: Moses—exalted be his glory—had a portion of love for the world in his heart, though he only desired it for the sake of the Hereafter as a means to reach it and out of desire for what is with God. So God the Almighty communed with him: {Indeed, I am your Lord, so remove your sandals...}3—meaning: remove from your heart the love of the world and the Hereafter and occupy yourself with Me, for I am the Goal. Let there be none in your heart but Me, for the heart is My house and My sanctuary, and I do not like any but Me to dwell therein; so do not occupy it with others.