Translation of the meanings Ayah 12 Surah Tā-ha - English Translation - Dr. Waleed Bleyhesh Omary (in progress) - The Noble Qur'an Encyclopedia

Ayah: 12

إِنِّيٓ أَنَا۠ رَبُّكَ فَٱخۡلَعۡ نَعۡلَيۡكَ إِنَّكَ بِٱلۡوَادِ ٱلۡمُقَدَّسِ طُوٗى

﴾12﴿ Verily, I am your Lord, so remove your sandals,^[19] for you are in the sacred valley of Ṭuwā.^[20]

[19] Exegetes differ on the reason for the command to remove his sandals. Ibn Kathīr summarizes these opinions as follows: one view asserts that the sandals were made from the hide of a donkey that did not possess a pleasant fragrance; another report states that the removal of the sandals was simply an act of reverence for the sacred spot; just as a man is instructed to take off his sandals when he intends to enter the Kaʿba. Yet another opinion maintains that he was commanded to go barefoot so as to tread the sacred ground unshod. Other opinions have also been narrated.
[20] According to Ibn ʿAbbās (k), as reported by al-Wāḥidī, Ṭuwā is the proper name of the valley—a view held by most exegetes. However, from a purely linguistic perspective, the term can also be interpreted as a verbal noun, as in “I called out ṭuwā,” implying “twice,” or that it was sanctified twice (cf. Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-Lughah; al-Iṣfahānī, al-Mufradāt; al-Kafawī, al-Kulliyāt). Other similar linguistic interpretations are also in existence.