Musa, peace be upon him, in Madyan, and how He watered the Flocks of the Two Women

When the man told Musa about how Fir`awn and his chiefs were conspiring against him, he left Egypt on his own. He was not used to being alone, because before that he had been living a life of luxury and ease, in a position of leadership.

فَخَرَجَ مِنْهَا خَآئِفاً يَتَرَقَّبُ

Commentary

وَلَمَّا تَوَجَّهَ تِلْقَاءَ مَدْيَنَ (And when he set out towards Madyan - 28:22). Madyan (مَدْيَنَ ) is the name of a city in Sham (a large territory now consisting of Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine) which was named after Madyan, the son of Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) . This area was outside the empire of the Pharaoh. It was eight days journey from Egypt. When Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) was taken over by the natural fright of the pursuing army of the Pharaoh, which was not in conflict either with the prophethood or with trust in Allah, he resolved to leave Egypt. Perhaps he decided to proceed toward Madyan because it was a habitation of the descendants of Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) and he was also his progeny.