His saying, exalted and glorified is He:

﴿He said, 'If you take a god other than me, I will surely make you among the imprisoned.'﴾ ﴿He said, 'Even if I bring you something clear?'﴾ ﴿He said, 'Then bring it forth if you are among the truthful.'﴾ ﴿So he threw down his staff, and behold, it was a clear serpent.﴾ ﴿And he drew out his hand, and behold, it was white for the observers.﴾ ﴿He said to the assembly around him, 'Indeed, this is a learned magician.'﴾ ﴿He wants to drive you out of your land by his magic, so what do you command?'﴾ ﴿They said, 'Delay him and his brother, and send among the cities gatherers.'﴾ ﴿They will bring you every learned magician.'﴾

When Pharaoh, may Allah curse him, was cut off in the matter of the proof, he returned to arrogance and domination. This is one of the clearest signs of being cut off. He threatened Moses, peace be upon him, when his speech exhausted him. In his threat of imprisonment, there was weakness; because his nature had failed him. It was narrated that he was greatly terrified of him, to the point that he could not hold his urine. It was narrated that his imprisonment was worse than death; for it was in a confined space from which he could never escape, and it was terrifying.

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

And this is the inclination of the house [...] to this day.

And with Moses, peace be upon him, there was from the command of Allah, blessed and exalted is He, that which did not terrify him with Pharaoh's threat. So Moses said to him in a gentle manner, hoping for his faith: ﴿Even if I bring you something clear?﴾ Does it clarify for you my truthfulness? Will you imprison me then? When Pharaoh heard that, he hoped to find a point of opposition, so he said to him: ﴿Then bring it forth if you are among the truthful.﴾ ﴿So he threw down his staff﴾ from his hand, and it was from the staffs of Paradise. It was the staff of Adam, peace be upon him, and it is narrated that it was made from the leaf of basil. It was with Shu'ayb, peace be upon him, among the staffs of the prophets, peace be upon them, and he gave it to Moses, peace be upon him, while he was tending to the sheep in a manner previously mentioned that indicated the prophethood of Moses. It had two branches at its tip, and there was the mouth of the snake there.

And the serpent is the largest of the creatures of snakes. We have mentioned previously what has been narrated regarding the greatness of snakes and other stories of this verse.

And Moses, peace be upon him, drew his hand from his pocket, and behold, it was shining like a piece of the sun. When Pharaoh saw that, he was astonished, and he had no defense against it, except that he resorted to accusing him of magic. He hoped—due to the high knowledge of magic at that time and its abundance—that there would be a reason to oppose Moses, peace be upon him. So he misled his people and his followers, claiming that Moses, peace be upon him, was a magician. And he stood 'around him' in the context, meaning: there were two beings around him. The agent in it is omitted, and the agent is truly the situation. The one that nominates it is 'he said' because it is the agent in this situation by means of the preposition of the genitive, similar to 'I passed by Hind while she was laughing.'

Then he consulted them about his matter and enticed them with his saying: ﴿He intends to drive you out of your land by his magic﴾. So they advised him to delay his matter and the matter of his brother, and to gather the magicians to resist him. It has been narrated that they advised to imprison him, which was the delay in their view. And 'delay' means postponement. They did not advise to kill him because his argument was clear and their misguidance in the lordship of Pharaoh was evident. So they feared the fitnah and hoped that he would prevail with an argument that would convince the common people. And 'the gatherer' means the one who gathers. Nafi', Abu Amr, and Asim read: 'with every magician', which is a form for exaggeration. And Asim and Al-Amash also read: 'with every sorcerer'.