So he threw it, meaning: he caused it to be thrown. And when the speech was with Musa, blessings and peace be upon him, his implication was not ambiguous; he did not explicitly mention his name, relying instead on his pronoun, and he said: 'His staff,' meaning: the one which was previously mentioned in another surah, that Allah, glorified and exalted is He, showed him its signs. 'And behold, it is a serpent,' meaning: a snake of great size. 'Clear,' meaning: the nature of the snake is evident, with no doubt in the observer's mind about it, unlike what occurs in magical matters, which are mere illusions and comparisons.