And when Pharaoh became satisfied at that time, when that evident miracle dazzled his people by the separation in this manner, which left no trick in it except that he imagined it, Moses, peace be upon him, managed to escape with his people, being somewhat secure from them. The context is to clarify that most of creation is wicked. Allah, the Exalted, informed about what Pharaoh's people said after they saw the overpowering miracle as evidence of that. He said, referring to ﴿And the magicians fell down prostrate﴾ [Al-A'raf: 120] and what followed it, or to the saying of Pharaoh: ﴿And the elite said﴾, meaning: the nobles ﴿from Pharaoh's people﴾, thinking that Pharaoh was secure in what he intended against Moses, peace be upon him, of harm, denying what had reached the situation of Moses, peace be upon him, when he did what he did and the magicians believed in him. And Pharaoh did nothing; he neither killed him nor imprisoned him; because he was unable to do that nor could he acknowledge it to his people ﴿Will you leave Moses and his people﴾.

And when what happened in the first assembly regarding the belief of the magicians was worthy of attracting similar ones to it, they called it corruption and made it a goal for Pharaoh to incite him and provoke him. They said: "To cause corruption," meaning: to bring about corruption, which is the alteration of the religion "in the land," meaning: that which is the entire earth, and it is this land of ours, or the earth as a whole, because such an act is worthy of turning all the people of the earth away from their beliefs. "And he will leave you and your gods." It is said that he commanded his people to worship idols as a means of drawing closer to him. The Imam said: The more likely interpretation is that he was a materialist who denied the existence of the Creator. He would say: The one who governs this lower world is the stars, and that they are the ones served in the world for the creation or for that group and the one who nurtures them. Then he said: If his doctrine was that, it would not be far-fetched to say that he had taken idols in the shapes of the stars and worshipped them according to the religion of the star worshippers. Therefore, he said: "I am your Lord, the Most High." This is how it is said, and it is the apparent meaning of the statement in the Torah that follows in the verse of the lice. However, his intention is not compatible with this equation. Rather, it appears that he had named his princes gods and named for each prince a group that worshipped him, meaning: obeyed him. It has been reported from them that they used to call the ruler, and even the great one, a god, as will come from the statement of the Torah. Thus, when the comparison occurred between Moses, blessings and peace be upon him, and his people, and between Pharaoh and his people, he expressed it with gods to exalt his side by indicating that he is a god, meaning: a ruling deity, there is no end beyond him, and all his entourage are gods; that is: rulers beneath him. And Moses, blessings and peace be upon him, is not a god, nor is there a god among his people; rather, they are those who are ruled over, so they are weak, so how can they be left alone! And where he denied divinity to others, he did so in light of his address to the elite: "I do not know for you of a god other than me." And where he gathered the subjects, he called out to them with his saying: "I am your Lord, the Most High." It was as if this was used metaphorically for the ruler, so they made it a reality and began to do what is specific to the gods regarding permissibility and prohibition, as He, glorified and exalted is He, said: "They took their scholars and their monks as lords besides Allah." So they disbelieved by claiming lordship in the sense of servitude, and denying the true deity, as evidenced by the verse "What I have done." The result is that they reproached him for being content to be a leader over the Copts while Moses, blessings and peace be upon him, was a leader over the Children of Israel, so they would be in this rivalry equal to the Copts.

And when Allah, glorified and exalted is He, incapacitated him from doing more than what he used to do before the coming of Musa, peace be upon him, for what is intended for him from being led to destruction, He informed about it, glorified and exalted is He, in a way that makes this clear; so he said, resuming: "Pharaoh said: 'We will kill many of their sons'" meaning: 'killing many' "and we will keep their women alive" meaning: 'we will keep them alive in humiliation and security from their danger in the future' "and indeed we are above them" meaning: 'now' "dominant" and there is no effect of Musa's victory over us in these matters, so that the common people do not imagine that he is the newborn about whom the astrologers and the priests spoke regarding the loss of their kingdom at his hands, which would discourage them from obedience, misleading them with this that his leaving Musa, peace be upon him, unharmed due to not paying attention to him incapacitates him from anything regarding him.