Tafseer of The Heights · Al-A'raaf · 7:113
And the magicians came to Pharaoh. They said, "Indeed for us is a reward if we are the predominant."
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.
"The sorcerers came to Pharaoh and said: 'Truly, for us there is a reward'", He says: truly, for us there is a reward because we shall overcome Mūsā before your face = "if we" – O Pharaoh – "are the victors".
* * *
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the scholars of exegesis spoke.
* Mention of who said that:
14931 - Al-ʿAbbās related to us, he said: Yazīd informed us, he said: Al-Aṣbagh ibn Zayd informed us, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Abī Ayyūb, he said: Saʿīd ibn Jubayr related to me, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: "He sent recruiters to the cities," and so every expert sorcerer was gathered for him. When they came to Pharaoh, they said: "With what does this sorcerer work?" It was answered: "He works with serpents." They said: "By Allah, there is no people on earth who work with sorcery, serpents, ropes, and staves who are more skilled than we are. So what is our reward if we are victorious?" He said to them: "You are my kinsmen and my close ones, and I shall do for you everything that you love."
14932 - ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn al-Haytham related to me, he said: Ibrāhīm ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: Sufyān related to us, he said: Abū Saʿd related to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: Pharaoh said: "We can only overcome him – that is, Mūsā – by means of someone who is of him (of his kind)." Therefore he gathered scholars from the children of Israel and sent them to a village in Egypt called "al-Faramā," to teach them sorcery as one teaches children writing in the writing-school. He said: And so they taught them much sorcery. He said: And Mūsā made an appointment with Pharaoh at a fixed time. When that appointed time arrived, Pharaoh sent and brought them, and he brought their teacher with them, and said to him: "What have you done?" He said: "I have taught them a sorcery that the sorcery of the inhabitants of the earth cannot withstand, unless it be a matter from heaven, for against that they have no power; but as for the sorcery of the inhabitants of the earth, that will never overcome them." When the sorcerers came, they said to Pharaoh: "Is there truly a reward for us if we are the victors?" He said: "Yes, and you will then be among those brought near."
14933 - Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, he said: ʿAmr related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "Pharaoh sent recruiters to the cities," and so they gathered the sorcerers for him = "When the sorcerers came to Pharaoh, they said: Truly, for us there is a reward if we are the victors," He says: a gift that you give us = "if we are the victors. He said: Yes, and you will truly be among those brought near."
14934 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: "Put him and his brother off, and send recruiters to the cities, that they may bring you every expert sorcerer," that is to say: outnumber him with sorcerers, so that perhaps among the sorcerers you may find someone who brings what he has brought. Mūsā and Hārūn had departed from him when he had shown them the power of Allah which he showed them. And Pharaoh sent throughout his kingdom and left in his dominion no sorcerer without summoning him. It was related to me – and Allah knows best – that he gathered for him fifteen thousand sorcerers. When they had assembled before him, he gave them his command and said to them: "A sorcerer has come to us such as we have never seen before, and if you overcome him, I shall honor you and favor you and bring you nearer than the inhabitants of my kingdom!" They said: "Is that for us if we overcome him?" He said: "Yes!"
14935 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, he said: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, on the authority of Yazīd, on the authority of ʿIkrima, he said: The sorcerers were seventy = Abū Jaʿfar said: I suspect that he said: thousand.
14936 - He said: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, he said: Mūsā ibn ʿUbayda related to us, on the authority of Ibn al-Mundhir, he said: The sorcerers were eighty thousand.
14937 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, he said: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Rufayʿ, on the authority of Khaythama, on the authority of Abī Sawda, on the authority of Kaʿb, he said: The sorcerers of Pharaoh were twelve thousand.
