His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "They said, O Moses, either you throw or we will be the first to throw." He said, "Rather, throw!" So when their ropes and staffs were cast, it seemed to him from their magic that they were moving. Then Moses felt in himself a fear. We said, "Do not fear; indeed, you are the most high. And throw what is in your right hand; it will swallow what they have made. Indeed, what they have made is only a magician's trick, and the magician will not succeed wherever he goes."

The sorcerers gave Moses, peace be upon him, the choice to begin throwing or to delay after them. It has been narrated that they were seventy thousand sorcerers. It has also been narrated that they were thirty thousand, and it has been narrated that they were fifteen thousand, and it has been narrated that they were nine hundred thousand, three hundred from al-Fayyum, three hundred from al-Firma, and three hundred from Alexandria. With each of them was a rope and a staff that had been used in magic.

And His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "So when" is for surprise, as when you say: "I went out and suddenly there was Zayd." It is that which follows the names. A group read: "their staffs" with a kasra on the 'ayn. A group read it with a damma. A group read: "it seemed" in the form of a verb for the passive. So His saying: "that they" is in the nominative case because its subject has not been mentioned. Al-Hasan and al-Thaqafi read: "it seems" with a damma on the ta and a kasra on the ya, attributing the action to the ropes and staffs. So His saying: "that they" is in the accusative case. A group read: "it seems" with a fatha on the ta and ya, attributing the action to the ropes and staffs. So His saying: "that they" is a direct object for it.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The apparent meaning from the verses and the stories in the books of the interpreters is that the ropes and staffs were moving and shifting by the tricks of magic, and by the concealment of heavy, flexible bodies in them. Their movement resembled the movement of something that has will, like an animal, which is called moving. For it is only described as moving that which walks among animals. Some people went to the view that they were not moving, but they enchanted the eyes of the people, and the observer was made to think that they were moving and shifting.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And Allah knows best which of these was the case.

And His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "Then Moses felt" is an expression of what occurs in a person's soul when his suspicion falls upon something that displeases him, while the apparent matter is all good. This action of the soul is called al-wajis. The interpreters expressed "felt" with a synonym, and this expression is much broader than al-wajis. And "fear" can be correct to be originally "khawfa" and the waw was changed to a ya for the sake of harmony. It is also possible that "fear" is with a fatha on the kha, and the waw was changed to a ya for the sake of harmony. The fear of Moses, peace be upon him, was only for the people that they might go astray due to the horror of what he saw. The first is more accurate; for he felt in himself in general and remained waiting for relief. And His saying: "you are the most high" means: the dominant over whoever opposes you in this situation.

And the majority of the reciters read: "تَلَقَّفْ" with a jasm and a strong ق on the response to the command. Ibn 'Amir alone read: "تَلَقُّفَ," and it is in the position of the حال. It is correct that it can be from the ملقى broadly, and it is correct that it can be from the ملقى, which is the stick. This is a حال even if it has not yet occurred, like His saying, the Most High: ﴿ هَدْيًا بالِغَ الكَعْبَةِ ﴾ [Al-Ma'idah: 95]. This is common. Hafs narrated from 'Asim: "تَلْقُفْ" with the ف silent and the ق lightened. He feminized the verb as it is ascribed to what is on the right, as the stick is intended by that. Al-Bazzi narrated from Ibn Kathir that he used to emphasize the ف of "تَلَقَّفَ," as if he intended: تَتَلَقَّفُ and then he merged. Abu Ali rejected this reading.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

It seems that its reader only adheres to it in connection where it suffices to omit the ألف. The majority read: "كَيَدُ" with رفع, while a group read: "كَيْدَ" with نصب. This is on the basis that "ما" is a كافّة and "كَيْدَ" is منصوب by "صَنَعُوا." The رفع of "كَيَدُ" is on the basis that "ما" means "الَّذِي." And "يُفْلِحُ" means: remains and achieves his aim. A group said: its meaning is that the sorcerer is killed wherever he is found.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

This is the recompense for one who lacks success. A group read: "أيْنَ أتى," and the meaning of both is similar.

It has been narrated from the story of this verse that Pharaoh, may Allah curse him, sat in a high place that was eighty cubits tall, and the people were beneath him in a plain. Seventy thousand sorcerers came and threw from their ropes and sticks what weighed three hundred camels. The matter was astonishing. Then Moses, peace be upon him, threw his stick from his hand, and it turned into a serpent, and it grew until it was said that it crossed the river with its tail, and it was said: the sea. Pharaoh was laughing at this and thought that the equilibrium was established. Then it came and began to eat the ropes and sticks until it consumed them. It fled towards Pharaoh, and he was terrified at that, and said: O Moses. So Moses, peace be upon him, extended his hand to it, and it returned to being a stick as it was. The sorcerers looked and knew the truth and saw the absence of the ropes and sticks, so they believed. May Allah be pleased with them.