Tafseer of Taa-Haa · Taa-Haa · 20:71
[Pharaoh] said, "You believed him before I gave you permission. Indeed, he is your leader who has taught you magic. So I will surely cut off your hands and your feet on opposite sides, and I will crucify you on the trunks of palm trees, and you will surely know which of us is more severe in [giving] punishment and more enduring."
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
Explanation of the word of Allah the Exalted: فَأُلْقِيَ السَّحَرَةُ سُجَّدًا قَالُوا آمَنَّا بِرَبِّ هَارُونَ وَمُوسَى (Verse 70)
(The sorcerers were cast down in sujūd. They said: "We believe in the Lord of Hārūn and Mūsā.")
In this text an element is omitted to which the existing text already points sufficiently, namely: Mūsā cast his staff, and it devoured what they had made. فَأُلْقِيَ السَّحَرَةُ سُجَّدًا قَالُوا آمَنَّا بِرَبِّ هَارُونَ وَمُوسَى — it is reported that Mūsā, after he cast what was in his hand, saw it become a colossal serpent that swallowed up all the ropes and staffs that the sorcerers had thrown.
Those who report the narration concerning this: Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaʿqūb related to us, on the authority of Jaʿfar, on the authority of Saʿīd, who said: when they had assembled and thrown what was in their hands of sorcery — يُخَيَّلُ إِلَيْهِ مِنْ سِحْرِهِمْ أَنَّهَا تَسْعَى * فَأَوْجَسَ فِي نَفْسِهِ خِيفَةً مُوسَى * قُلْنَا لا تَخَفْ إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الأَعْلَى * وَأَلْقِ مَا فِي يَمِينِكَ تَلْقَفْ مَا صَنَعُوا — he cast his staff and at once it was a manifest serpent; he said: it opened a mouth as wide as a well (daḥl), placed one lip on the ground and raised the other, and then it devoured everything they had thrown of sorcery. Then he walked over to it and seized it, and at once it was again a staff. The sorcerers cast themselves down in sujūd. قَالُوا آمَنَّا بِرَبِّ هَارُونَ وَمُوسَى * قَالَ آمَنْتُمْ لَهُ قَبْلَ أَنْ آذَنَ لَكُمْ إِنَّهُ لَكَبِيرُكُمُ الَّذِي عَلَّمَكُمُ السِّحْرَ فَلأُقَطِّعَنَّ أَيْدِيَكُمْ وَأَرْجُلَكُمْ مِنْ خِلافٍ — he said: Pharaoh was the first to cut off hands and feet on opposite sides. وَلأُصَلِّبَنَّكُمْ فِي جُذُوعِ النَّخْلِ — he said: Pharaoh was the first to crucify upon the trunks of palm trees.
Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: فَأَوْجَسَ فِي نَفْسِهِ خِيفَةً مُوسَى — Allah revealed to him: لا تَخَفْ وَأَلْقِ مَا فِي يَمِينِكَ تَلْقَفْ مَا يَأْفِكُونَ — he cast his staff and it devoured every serpent of theirs; when they saw that, they cast themselves down in sujūd and قَالُوا آمَنَّا بِرَبِّ هَارُونَ وَمُوسَى .
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, who said: I was informed from Wahb ibn Munabbih, concerning فَأَوْجَسَ فِي نَفْسِهِ خِيفَةً مُوسَى — after he had seen what they had thrown of ropes and staffs and it appeared to him that they were moving. He said: "By Allah, these were indeed staffs in their hands — they have truly become serpents, and my staff is surely nothing but my staff" — or words to that effect which he impressed upon himself. Then Allah revealed to him: وَأَلْقِ مَا فِي يَمِينِكَ تَلْقَفْ مَا صَنَعُوا إِنَّمَا صَنَعُوا كَيْدُ سَاحِرٍ وَلا يُفْلِحُ السَّاحِرُ حَيْثُ أَتَى . Mūsā was relieved and cast his staff from his hand; it set upon all that they had thrown of ropes and staffs — and they were serpents in the eyes of Pharaoh and the eyes of the people, moving about — and it began to devour them, serpent by serpent, until nothing remained to be seen in the valley of what they had thrown, neither little nor much. Then Mūsā took up the staff and at once it was again a staff in his hand as it had been. The sorcerers fell down in sujūd and said: "We believe in the Lord of Hārūn and Mūsā — had this been sorcery, it could not have overcome us."
