So Pharaoh turned away from Moses to prepare what he intended of plotting after turning away from submitting to the command of Allah. He gathered his plot, meaning his deceit, trickery, and cunning, which he devised against Moses by gathering those through whom he could plot, and they were the magicians. He summoned them from every direction, and the people of Egypt were the most skilled in magic on earth and had the most magicians. They were, at that time, particularly concerned with magic and were the most skilled and numerous. Then he came for the appointed time that had been decided upon with those he had gathered from the magicians and soldiers and those who followed them from the people, with the motivation to come for the festival and to witness that contest which had no equal.