The Poets (Al-Shu‘ara’)
Verses 43-48 GROUP_947 26.43-48
43
قَالَ لَهُم مُّوسَى أَلْقُوا مَا أَنتُم مُّلْقُونَ
Moses said to the magicians, ‘Throw down whatever you are going to throw.’
44
فَأَلْقَوْا حِبَالَهُمْ وَعِصِيَّهُمْ وَقَالُوا بِعِزَّةِ فِرْعَوْنَ إِنَّا لَنَحْنُ الْغَالِبُونَ
So they cast down their ropes and staffs, and said, ‘By Pharaoh’s honour, we shall surely win.’
45
فَأَلْقَى مُوسَى عَصَاهُ فَإِذَا هِيَ تَلْقَفُ مَا يَأْفِكُونَ
Then Moses threw down his staff, and it swallowed up all that they had conjured into being.
46
فَأُلْقِيَ السَّحَرَةُ سَاجِدِينَ
The magicians fell down prostrate,
47
قَالُوا آمَنَّا بِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ
saying, ‘We believe in the Lord of the Worlds,
48
رَبِّ مُوسَى وَهَارُونَ
the Lord of Moses and Aaron.’
Commentary
(a)The magicians threw down their ropes and sticks, and the spectators felt as if these ropes and sticks had changed into snakes and were running along the ground. But this was not a real change. It was simply an optical illusion, whereas, the changing of Moses’s rod into a snake was a miracle of God. So when Moses’s rod became a snake and started moving along the ground, it instantly nullified the spell cast by the magicians. Thereafter, the magician’s ropes and sticks reverted to being the ropes and sticks that they actually were. Earlier, the magicians had considered Moses to be a magician like themselves. But, the aforesaid experience opened their eyes. They were well versed in the art of magic. So, they immediately understood that this was not magic but prophethood. However, it was possible that they could have refused to accept the Truth and, like Pharaoh, could have uttered some falsities in order to reject Moses. But, it is impossible for a man who is intellectually alive not to accept the Truth when it fully reveals itself before him. The magicians were persons who were alive in this manner. So, they immediately accepted Moses’s truthfulness.