Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 26 Ash-Shu'ara, Ayat 34-51

قَالَ لِلۡمَلَاِ حَوۡلَهٗۤ اِنَّ هٰذَا لَسٰحِرٌ عَلِيۡمٌۙ‏ ﴿26:34﴾ يُّرِيۡدُ اَنۡ يُّخۡرِجَكُمۡ مِّنۡ اَرۡضِكُمۡ بِسِحۡرِهٖ ​ۖ  فَمَاذَا تَاۡمُرُوۡنَ​‏  ﴿26:35﴾ قَالُوۡۤا اَرۡجِهۡ وَاَخَاهُ وَابۡعَثۡ فِى الۡمَدَآئِنِ حٰشِرِيۡنَۙ‏ ﴿26:36﴾ يَاۡتُوۡكَ بِكُلِّ سَحَّارٍ عَلِيۡمٍ‏ ﴿26:37﴾ فَجُمِعَ السَّحَرَةُ لِمِيۡقَاتِ يَوۡمٍ مَّعۡلُوۡمٍۙ‏ ﴿26:38﴾ وَّقِيۡلَ لِلنَّاسِ هَلۡ اَنۡـتُمۡ مُّجۡتَمِعُوۡنَۙ‏ ﴿26:39﴾ لَعَلَّنَا نَـتَّبِعُ السَّحَرَةَ اِنۡ كَانُوۡا هُمُ الۡغٰلِبِيۡنَ‏ ﴿26:40﴾ فَلَمَّا جَآءَ السَّحَرَةُ قَالُوۡا لِفِرۡعَوۡنَ اَـئِنَّ لَـنَا لَاَجۡرًا اِنۡ كُنَّا نَحۡنُ الۡغٰلِبِيۡنَ‏ ﴿26:41﴾ قَالَ نَعَمۡ وَاِنَّكُمۡ اِذًا لَّمِنَ الۡمُقَرَّبِيۡنَ‏ ﴿26:42﴾ قَالَ لَهُمۡ مُّوۡسٰۤى اَلۡقُوۡا مَاۤ اَنۡتُمۡ مُّلۡقُوۡنَ‏ ﴿26:43﴾ فَاَلۡقَوۡا حِبَالَهُمۡ وَعِصِيَّهُمۡ وَقَالُوۡا بِعِزَّةِ فِرۡعَوۡنَ اِنَّا لَـنَحۡنُ الۡغٰلِبُوۡنَ‏ ﴿26:44﴾ فَاَ لۡقٰى مُوۡسٰى عَصَاهُ فَاِذَا هِىَ تَلۡقَفُ مَا يَاۡفِكُوۡنَ​ ۖ ​ۚ‏ ﴿26:45﴾ فَاُلۡقِىَ السَّحَرَةُ سٰجِدِيۡنَۙ‏ ﴿26:46﴾ قَالُوۡۤا اٰمَنَّا بِرَبِّ الۡعٰلَمِيۡنَۙ‏ ﴿26:47﴾ رَبِّ مُوۡسٰى وَهٰرُوۡنَ‏ ﴿26:48﴾ قَالَ اٰمَنۡتُمۡ لَهٗ قَبۡلَ اَنۡ اٰذَنَ لَـكُمۡ​ۚ اِنَّهٗ لَـكَبِيۡرُكُمُ الَّذِىۡ عَلَّمَكُمُ السِّحۡرَ​ۚ فَلَسَوۡفَ تَعۡلَمُوۡنَ ۙ لَاُقَطِّعَنَّ اَيۡدِيَكُمۡ وَاَرۡجُلَـكُمۡ مِّنۡ خِلَافٍ وَّلَاُصَلِّبَنَّكُمۡ اَجۡمَعِيۡنَ​ۚ‏ ﴿26:49﴾ قَالُوۡا لَا ضَيۡرَ​ اِنَّاۤ اِلٰى رَبِّنَا مُنۡقَلِبُوۡنَ​ۚ‏ ﴿26:50﴾ اِنَّا نَطۡمَعُ اَنۡ يَّغۡفِرَ لَـنَا رَبُّنَا خَطٰيٰـنَاۤ اَنۡ كُنَّاۤ اَوَّلَ الۡمُؤۡمِنِيۡنَؕ‏ ﴿26:51﴾

(26:34) Pharaoh said to the nobles around him: "Surely this man is a skilled magician (26:35) who wants to drive you out of your land by his magic.29 Tell us, what do you advise us?"30 (26:36) They said: "Detain him and his brother for a while and send forth heralds to the cities (26:37) to mobilise all skilled magicians." (26:38) So the magicians were brought together on a particular day at a set time31 (26:39) and the people were told: "Will you join the assembly?32 (26:40) We may perhaps follow the religion of the magicians if they triumph."33 (26:41) When the magicians came forth (for the encounter) they said to Pharaoh: "Is there a reward for us if we triumph?"34 (26:42) He said: "Yes, you will then become those near-stationed to me."35 (26:43) Moses said to them: "Throw down whatever you wish to throw." (26:44) Thereupon they threw down their ropes and their rods, and said: "By the glory of Pharaoh, we shall prevail."36 (26:45) Thereafter, Moses threw down his rod and behold, it went about swallowing up all the false devices they had contrived. (26:46) Thereupon the magicians fell down in prostration, (26:47) saying: "We (now) believe in the Lord of the Universe, (26:48) the Lord of Moses and Aaron."37 (26:49) Pharaoh said: "You accepted the word of Moses even before I granted you the leave to do so. Surely he is your chief who has taught you magic.38 Soon shall you come to know. I shall cut off your hands and feet on opposite sides and shall crucify all of you."39 (26:50) They said: "We do not care, for we are bound to return to our Lord, (26:51) and we surely expect that Our Lord will forgive us our sins for we are the first ones to believe."40

Notes

29. The impact of the two miracles can be judged from the fact that a moment before this Pharaoh was calling Moses (peace be upon him) a mad man, because he had claimed to be a Prophet and had the boldness to openly demand release of the Israelites. He was also threatening Moses (peace be upon him) that if he took somebody else as Lord instead of him, he would cast him into the prison for life. But, after he had seen the signs, he became so terrorstricken that he felt his kingdom to be at stake, and in his confusion he did not realize that he was talking meaninglessly to his servants in the court. Two men from the oppressed community of the Israelites were standing before the most powerful ruler of the time. They had no military force with them, they belonged to a weak and lifeless community, and there was no sign of any rebellion in any corner of the country, nor did they have the support of any foreign power, yet as soon as the miracles of the snake of the staff and the shining hand were shown, the tyrant desperately cried out: These two men want to seize power and deprive the ruling class of their sovereign rights! His apprehension that Moses (peace be upon him) would do so by force of his magic again reflected a confused state of mind, for nowhere in the world has a political revolution been ever brought about, nor a country taken, nor a war won merely by force of magic. There were many magicians in Egypt, who could perform masterly tricks of magic, but Pharaoh knew it well that they were nonentities because they performed magic only for the sake of rewards.

30. This sentence further shows Pharaoh’s perplexed state of mind. A moment before he was the deity of his courtiers and, now, struck by awe, the deity is asking his servants as to what he should do to meet the dangerous situation.

31. As already mentioned in Surah TaHa (verse 59), the day fixed for the purpose was the day of the national festivities of the Egyptians so that large crowds of people coming to the festivals from every part of the country should also witness the grand contest which was to be held in the broad daylight so that the spectators could see the performances clearly.

32. That is, besides proclamation heralds were sent to urge the people to come and see the contest. It appears that the news of the miracle shown by Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) before the packed court had reached the common people also, and Pharaoh fearing that the people at large might be influenced, wanted that they should come together in large numbers so that they could see for themselves that turning a staff into a snake had nothing extraordinary in it because such a trick could be performed by every common magician of their own country as well.

33. This sentence confirms the idea that those who had witnessed the miracle of Moses (peace be upon him) in the royal court and those who had heard of it reliably outside were losing faith in their ancestral religion, and now the strength of their faith depended on this that their own magicians also should give a performance similar to that of Moses (peace be upon him). That is why Pharaoh and his chiefs themselves regarded this contest as a decisive one, and their heralds were busy moving about in the land, impressing on the people that if the magicians won the day, they would yet be secured against the risk of being won over to Moses’ (peace be upon him) religion, otherwise there was every possibility of their creed being exposed and abandoned forever.

34. Such was the mentality of the supporters of the polytheistic creed of the land, whose only ambition was to win rewards from the king if they won the day.

35. This was then the highest honor that the king could confer on those who served the creed best. Thus, at the very outset, Pharaoh and his magicians manifested by their conduct the great moral distinction that exists between a Prophet and a magician. On the one side, there stood that embodiment of courage and confidence, who in spite of belonging to the suppressed community of the Israelites and having remained to hiding for ten long years on account of a charge of murder, had suddenly appeared in Pharaoh’s court to proclaim fearlessly that he had been sent by the Lord of all Creation and demanded release of the Israelites.

He did not even feel the least hesitation in starting a discussion face to face with Pharaoh not caring in the least for his threats. On the other side, there were the wretched magicians wholly lacking in moral fiber, who had been summoned by Pharaoh himself to help secure the ancestral religion, and yet they were begging for rewards in return for the services. And when they are told that they will not only be given rewards but will also be included among the royal courtiers, they feel greatly overjoyed. These two types of characters clearly bring out the difference between the grand personality of a Prophet and that of a mere magician. Unless a man loses all senses of modesty and decency, he cannot have the audacity to call a Prophet a magician.

36. As soon as they cast down their cords and staffs, these started moving like so many snakes towards Moses. This has been described in greater detail at other places in the Quran. According to (Surah Al-Araf, Ayat 116): When they threw down their devices, they bewitched the eyes of the people and terrified their hearts: for they had indeed produced a great magic. And according to (Surah TaHa, Ayats 66, 67): Suddenly it so appeared to Moses that their cords and staffs were running about by the power of their magic, and Moses’ heart was filled with fear.

37. This was not merely an acknowledgment of their defeat at the hands of Moses (peace be upon him) as though he was a greater magician, but their falling prostrate in submission to Allah, Lord of the universe, was an open declaration before thousands of Egyptians that what Moses (peace be upon him) had brought about was no magic at all, but a manifestation of the powers of Allah, Almighty.

38. This only shows the extreme obstinacy and obduracy of Pharaoh, who even after witnessing a clear miracle and the testimony of the magicians on it, was still insisting that it was magic. But according to (Surah Al-Aaraf, Ayat 123), Pharaoh said: Indeed it was a plot you conspired in the capital to deprive the rightful owners of their power. Thus he tried to make the people believe that the magicians had yielded to Moses (peace be upon him) not because of the miracle but due to a conspiracy with Moses (peace be upon him) before they entered the contest, so that they might seize political power and enjoy its fruits together.

39. This horrible threat was held out by Pharaoh to justify his thinking that the magicians had entered a conspiracy with Moses (peace be upon him). He thought that the magicians, in order to save their lives, would confess the plot and thus the effect produced by their falling prostrate and believing in Moses (peace be upon him) in front of thousands of spectators would be gone.

40. That is, we have to return to our Lord in any case. If you kill us now, we shall present ourselves before Him just today, and we have nothing to worry about this. We rather expect that we shall be forgiven our sins and errors because out of this entire gathering we were the first to believe as soon as reality became known to us.

This reply of the magicians made two things absolutely clear to the people who had been gathered together by Pharaoh heralds.

First, that Pharaoh was a dishonest obdurate and deceitful person. When he saw that Moses had come out successful in the contest which he himself had arranged to be decisive, he concocted a plot and forced the magicians to confess it by coercion and threats. Had there been any truth in it, the magicians would not have readily offered to have their hands and feet cut off on opposite sides and get crucified. The fact that the magicians remained steadfast and firm in their belief, even in the face of such a horrible threat, proves that the accusation of plotting a conspiracy against Pharaoh was baseless. The fact was that the magicians being experts in their art had realized that what Moses (peace be upon him) had displayed was no magic, but surely a manifestation of the powers of Allah, Lord of the universe.

Secondly, thousands of the people who had gathered together from all corners of the land had themselves witnessed the great moral change that had occurred in the magicians as soon as they professed belief in the Lord of the universe. The same magicians who had been summoned to strengthen and secure the ancestral creed by means of their magic and who, a minute before, were humbly begging Pharaoh for rewards had now become so bold and ennobled spiritually that they would not take any notice of Pharaoh’s powers and his threats and were even prepared to face death and extreme physical torture for the sake of their faith. Thus psychologically there could not be a better occasion to expose the polytheistic creed of the Egyptians in their own eyes and help impress the truth of Moses’ (peace be upon him) religion in the minds of the people.