His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "That is because their messengers came to them with clear signs, but they disbelieved. So Allah seized them. Indeed, He is Strong and Severe in punishment." "And We certainly sent Moses with Our signs and a clear authority." "To Pharaoh, Haman, and Qarun. But they said, 'A magician, a liar.'" "So when the truth came to them from Us, they said, 'Kill the sons of those who have believed with him and keep alive their women.' And the plot of the disbelievers is not but in error."

His saying, the Most High: "That" is a reference to His seizing them for their sins, even though they had no protector from Him. Then He mentioned that the reason for their destruction was what the Quraysh were upon, that a messenger from Allah came to them with clear signs from the miracles and proofs, but they disbelieved in him. He mentioned that Allah, the Most High, seized them and described Himself as Strong and Severe in punishment. All of this is an explanation of the warning to Quraysh.

Then He, blessed and exalted is He, began the story of Moses, peace be upon him, with Pharaoh and his people. This story contains consolation and an example for the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and a warning and a parable for Quraysh and the disbelievers, from which they fear that what befell those will befall them. And it contains a promise and hope for the believers in victory and success and praise for the outcome of patience. The signs of Moses are many, the greatest of which, and what he presented in the context of challenge, are the staff and the hand. The opposition occurred only regarding the staff, and then the matter was separated from the faith of the magicians and the defeat of the disbelievers. And "authority" means proof. Isa ibn Umar read: "Sultan" with a damm on the lam, while the people read it with a sukoon. He specifically mentioned Haman and Qarun to highlight their status in disbelief, and because they were the most famous men of Pharaoh. It is said that this Qarun is not the Qarun of the Children of Israel, and it is said that he is that one, but he was connected to Pharaoh, serving and assisting him. And His saying: "magician" refers to the matter of the staff, and "liar" in his saying: 'Indeed, I am a messenger from Allah.'

Then Allah, the Most High, informed that when Moses, peace be upon him, came to them with prophethood and the truth from Allah, these three agreed that the sons of the Children of Israel, the followers of Moses, peace be upon him, and their young men and the strong among them should be killed, and that the women should be kept alive for service and enslavement. This is a return from them to the kind of killing that occurred before the birth of Moses, peace be upon him. However, this latter plan did not materialize for them, nor did Allah, the Most High, aid them in anything of it. Qatadah said: This killing is different from the first one that was out of fear of the newborn. And they referred to those we mentioned from the Children of Israel as sons, just as you would say for the branches of a tribe or the people of a city: 'These are the sons of so-and-so.'

And His saying, the Most High: "And the plot of the disbelievers is not but in error" is a concise phrase that gives its strength that these three were not able to kill any of the Children of Israel, nor did their efforts succeed against them. Rather, Allah led their efforts and plots astray.