Tafseer of The Heights · Al-A'raaf · 7:117
And We inspired to Moses, "Throw your staff," and at once it devoured what they were falsifying.
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 explanation of the words of Allah: وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَى مُوسَى أَنْ أَلْقِ عَصَاكَ فَإِذَا هِيَ تَلْقَفُ مَا يَأْفِكُونَ (7:117) (And We revealed to Mūsā: Cast down your staff! And behold, it swallowed up what they had brought about through deception.)
He, exalted is His mention, says: And We revealed to Mūsā: Cast down your staff! So he cast it down, and behold, it swallowed up and gulped down what they were performing through sorcery, lying, and falsehood.
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Of this one says: "I swallowed up the thing (laqaftu al-shayʾ)," and I swallow it (alqufuhu), with laqf and laqafān.
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= And that is like this:
14942 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: "And We revealed to Mūsā: Cast down your staff!", so Mūsā cast down his staff, and it turned into a serpent and ate up all their sorcery.
14943 - ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn al-Haytham related to us, saying: Ibrāhīm ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, saying: Abū Saʿd related to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: So he cast down his staff, and behold, it was a serpent that swallowed up what they had brought about through deception = it passed by nothing of their ropes and sticks that they had cast down without swallowing it up. Then the sorcerers knew that this was a matter from heaven and that this was not sorcery, and they fell down in prostration and said: آمَنَّا بِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ * رَبِّ مُوسَى وَهَارُونَ (We believe in the Lord of the worlds, the Lord of Mūsā and Hārūn).
14944 - Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, saying: Allah revealed to Mūsā: Fear not, and cast down what is in your right hand; it will swallow up what they bring about through deception. So he cast down his staff, and it ate up every serpent of theirs. When they saw that, they fell down in prostration and said: we believe in the Lord of the worlds, the Lord of Mūsā and Hārūn.
14945 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, saying: Allah revealed to him: Cast down what is in your right hand! So he cast his staff from his hand, and it drew along what they had cast down of their ropes and staves — and they were serpents in the eyes of Firʿawn and the eyes of the people, moving about — and it began to swallow them, gulping them down, serpent by serpent, until there remained nothing to be seen in the valley of what they had cast down, neither little nor much. Then Mūsā took it up, and behold, it was his staff in his hand as it had been. And the sorcerers fell down in prostration and said: "we believe in the Lord of the worlds, the Lord of Mūsā and Hārūn. If this were sorcery, he would not have overcome us!"
14946 - Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Hishām al-Dastawāʾī, saying: al-Qāsim ibn Abī Bazza related to us, saying: Allah revealed to him: Cast down your staff! So he cast down his staff, and behold, it was a serpent with gaping maw, and it gulped down their ropes and their staves. The sorcerers fell down in prostration thereat, and they did not raise their heads until they saw the Garden and the Fire, and the recompense of the dwellers of both.
14947 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the words of Allah: "yaʾfikūn", he said: they lie.
14948 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid: "and behold, it swallowed up what they brought about through deception (taʾfikūn)", he said: they lie.
14949 - Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mustamir related to us, saying: ʿUthmān ibn ʿUmar related to us, saying: Qurra ibn Khālid al-Sadūsī related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: "it swallowed up what they brought about through deception", he said: their ropes and their staves, it gulped them down with a gulping.
