The Heights (Al-A‘raf) الأعراف 113–122
113
وَجَاء السَّحَرَةُ فِرْعَوْنَ قَالْواْ إِنَّ لَنَا لأَجْرًا إِن كُنَّا نَحْنُ الْغَالِبِينَ
And the magicians came to Pharaoh and asked, ‘Shall we have a reward, if we should prevail?’
114
قَالَ نَعَمْ وَإَنَّكُمْ لَمِنَ الْمُقَرَّبِينَ
Pharaoh replied, ‘Certainly, and you shall also become my courtiers.’
115
قَالُواْ يَا مُوسَى إِمَّا أَن تُلْقِيَ وَإِمَّا أَن نَّكُونَ نَحْنُ الْمُلْقِينَ
They said, ‘Moses, will you first throw, or shall we?’
116
قَالَ أَلْقُوْاْ فَلَمَّا أَلْقَوْاْ سَحَرُواْ أَعْيُنَ النَّاسِ وَاسْتَرْهَبُوهُمْ وَجَاءوا بِسِحْرٍ عَظِيمٍ
He said, ‘You throw [first]!’ When they made their cast, they bewitched the eyes of the people and struck them with awe, for they showed a great [feat of] magic.
117
وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَى مُوسَى أَنْ أَلْقِ عَصَاكَ فَإِذَا هِيَ تَلْقَفُ مَا يَأْفِكُونَ
Then We inspired Moses, saying, ‘Throw down your staff.’ And it immediately swallowed up their false devices.
118
فَوَقَعَ الْحَقُّ وَبَطَلَ مَا كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ
Thus the truth prevailed and what they had produced came to nothing:
119
فَغُلِبُواْ هُنَالِكَ وَانقَلَبُواْ صَاغِرِينَ
Pharaoh and his men were defeated and utterly humiliated.
120
وَأُلْقِيَ السَّحَرَةُ سَاجِدِينَ
And the sorcerers prostrated themselves
121
قَالُواْ آمَنَّا بِرِبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ
and said, ‘We believe in the Lord of the Universe,
122
رَبِّ مُوسَى وَهَارُونَ
the Lord of Moses and Aaron!’
No class discussions published for this verse group yet.
(a) Prophet’s are given miracles according to the mindset of their contemporaries. In ancient Egypt magic captivated the minds of the people, so Moses was given the miracle of magic. As planned by Pharaoh, on the occasion of the national festival, all their great magicians assembled. The magicians asked Moses whether they should perform their feat first, or whether he would like to start the proceedings. Moses asked them to demonstrate their magic first, and they accepted. This shows that a prophet never takes the initiative in taking action against his enemy. Till the last moment he gives his opponents the opportunity to open hostilities. When his opponents, in this way, have already taken upon themselves the responsibility of initiating action, at that time the prophet uses all the powers at his command to subdue them. Presenting the ideology of Islam theoretically, a prophet takes the first step, but he never takes the initiative when it could lead to an offensive action. (a) In Egypt, the mission of Moses continued for about forty years. This competition with the magicians took place in the last stage of this period. We can imagine from this that the magicians must have been aware of Moses’ message. However, the veil covering their eyes had not fallen away. When they saw Moses’ superiority in the field in which they specialised, then all the veils were torn apart. They could see that this was not a case of magic but of Divine prophethood. They voluntarily and spontaneously prostrated themselves before God. When the sticks and ropes were thrown down by the magicians, they appeared to the people to be moving snakes, due to an optical illusion. But when Moses’ staff turned into a snake and started moving along the ground, the magician’s sticks and ropes turned back into sticks and ropes. The magicians knew the limits of magic. In this event, the magicians realised actually how insignificant were man’s devices, even in their most perfect forms, and how Great and all-Powerful was God. Thereafter, Pharaoh—with all his authority—appeared valueless to them. The same magicians who, before witnessing God’s greatness, were desirous of rewards from Pharaoh, ignored Pharaoh’s threat of the worst punishment as if it were of no account.