Was the light that Moses - upon him be peace - saw the light of Allah, and how can we reconcile the saying of later scholars that the light of Allah is not dazzling, with the saying of the Salaf that it is a dazzling light, given the possibility of Moses seeing the attribute of light of Allah in this world, and is Allah capable of changing His form and the modality of His attributes?

Most exegetes believe that the fire Moses saw was light, which he mistook for fire. Their interpretations of the meaning of "who is in the fire" in the verse varied, with some suggesting they were angels. More apparent than that, it was the light or fire of the veil mentioned in the prophetic tradition narrated by Abu Musa al-Ash'ari: "His veil is light" - and in another narration: "fire" - "if He were to lift it, the splendors of His face would burn everything His sight reaches of His creation." So, this fire is light.

As for the Light of Allah, which is His attribute, it cannot be seen in this world, as Allah Almighty said to Moses: "{You will not see Me}." The Light of Allah manifests in four ways: an intrinsic light, a light attributed to Him, the Light of the heavens and the earth, and the light of His veil. The veil of the Lord is light, and it is a pure fire with brilliance but no burning.

The attributes of Allah are of two types: essential (dhati) which do not change, such as knowledge, power, and light; and active (fi'li) which relate to His will, such as coming and anger. The statement that Allah acts by His power, creating and doing what He wills, is not change in its impossible sense, for Allah's form does not change nor does it transform.