«وَاضْمُمْ إِلَيْكَ جَنَاحَكَ مِنَ الرَّهْبِ»
“And draw your arm close to yourself against fear.” (al-Qaṣaṣ 28:32, excerpt)
The word janāḥ gives a vivid bodily expression, here associated with an arm or side. The gesture is connected with gathering oneself and calming a fearful state. The physical instruction and the relief it communicates are mutually illuminating.
Moses is addressed in a particular narrative circumstance. It is therefore inadequate to erase the bodily instruction and replace it with an entirely abstract emotion; it is equally inadequate to disregard the expressive relation between the gesture and reassurance. Both belong to the passage’s intelligible setting.