And when Pharaoh was in many of the afflictions that he was inflicting upon him, glorified and exalted is He - as has been mentioned in Al-A'raf regarding the Torah - he says to Moses, blessings and peace be upon him: 'You have erred, and the Lord is benevolent, and I and my people are wicked. So we prayed before the Lord, for indeed He is one who delays and is patient, and He will turn away from me such and such.' So when Allah turned that away from them, he returned to what he was upon of wickedness. His doing that was the act of one who does not believe that Moses, blessings and peace be upon him, is truly a prophet, but rather believes that he is a magician, and that his actions are merely illusions. Thus he expressed this meaning by saying, in reference to what he estimates, 'And they did not return.' They said: 'And they,' meaning Pharaoh directly and his followers in agreement with him: 'O you magician!' They called him with a term of distance while indicating with 'they said' instead of 'they called' that he is present, pointing to their distance from their hearts. This expression is a reproach to Quraysh, indicating that they and others before them would accuse the Messenger of being a magician while acknowledging his message when in need of his supplication to relieve what their Lord had inflicted upon them. This is a defect in what they claim of steadfastness, bravery, reason, fairness, and nobility. This is as it occurred with Quraysh when the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: 'O Allah, assist me against them with years like the years of Joseph.' So they experienced drought, and when the affliction became severe upon them, Abu Sufyan ibn Harb came to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, in the noble city and said: 'O Muhammad! You have come with the ties of kinship, and indeed your people have perished, so pray to Allah for them.' So he prayed for them, and they were aided.' There is no doubt that the translation of their state, which Allah mentioned, is of the contradictions that no sane person would accept for himself. It is his description of him as a magician and the request for supplication from him prevents the belief that he is a magician, and the belief that he is a magician prevents the request for supplication from him in the case of the sane. 'Pray for us to your Lord,' meaning the one who is good to you by what He does with you of these actions that you have prohibited us from as an honor to you. 'By what,' meaning because of what, 'He has promised you' that He will do by placing it and raising it according to what you want, as you informed us that if we believe, He will honor us, and if we persist, He will humiliate us. Then they justified that by saying, affirming the approximation of their state far from transgressing what the witness of existence informs: 'Indeed, we are surely guided,' meaning a steadfast guidance that will become a permanent description for us when that is revealed from us.