The Box That Chose the Palace

When this wooden box was sent into the river, it kept on flowing through the Nile, and the waves moved it around. There were many houses and communities along the Nile. All of the people of Egypt lived on that river; it was their livelihood. Egypt is desert; there is no rain; the people live on the water of the Nile. That is where all of the communities of Egypt are, even to this day — you rarely find communities living away from the river on the west or the east. Everyone surrounds this river, so it is their houses that line the Nile.

This wooden casket was moving. And out of every house — out of all of the houses lining the west and east banks of the river — where does this wooden box choose to stop? All of the people of Egypt are living on this river. This wooden box is floating through the waves of the Nile, and Allah (swt) is directing it, guiding it and navigating it through the river. And Allah (swt) sends this wooden box right to the shore of the palace of Firʿawn.

The mother of Mūsā threw this child into the Nile to get him away from Firʿawn — that is why she put him in the river in the first place, so that the child could escape Firʿawn. But Allah (swt) wanted this baby to go right to the palace of Firʿawn. If the mother of Mūsā was watching this, she would say: what promise is this? Allah (swt) promised me that He would save my child, and my child goes and stops right by the palace of Firʿawn! But her īmān was firm. Allah (swt) says: We bound her heart firmly with īmān. Allah (swt) has a plan.