Taha 20:61–66

Sayyidna Miisa's I prophetic address to the magicians

Before the start of the contest Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) addressed some words of friendly advice to the magicians to warn them of divine punishment if they persisted in denying God's miracles and other manifestations of His power. His actual words were:

وَيْلَكُمْ لَا تَفْتَرُ‌وا عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِبًا فَيُسْحِتَكُم بِعَذَابٍ وَقَدْ خَابَ مَنِ افْتَرَ‌ىٰ

Pity on you, do not fabricate a lie against Allah, lest He uproots you with a punishment. And loser is he who fabricates a lie - 20:61.

It was hardly to be expected that the magicians who had entered the field with all the might of the Pharaoh-behind them would pay any heed to Sayyidna Musa's (علیہ السلام) words of advice. However, the prophets and their followers possess a hidden power so that their plain and simple words penetrate the most unruly and perverse minds, and the address of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) caused discord and dissensions among the magicians, some of whom thought that these could not be the words of a magician but of a higher being and were therefore, against the contest. But others were adamant,

فَتَنَازَعُوا أَمْرَ‌هُم بَيْنَهُمْ (then, they disputed among themselves in their matter - 20:62), وَأَسَرُّ‌وا النَّجْوَىٰ (and kept their talk secret - 20:62). Ultimately their unanimous decision was to proceed with the contest because, in their opinion, Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) and Sayyidna Harun (علیہ السلام) were both magicians who wished to drive away the Pharaoh and his men from Egypt by their magic and to eradicate their ideal way of life. This decision of theirs is mentioned in verse 63 in the following words:

إِنْ هَٰذَانِ لَسَاحِرَ‌انِ يُرِ‌يدَانِ أَن يُخْرِ‌جَاكُم مِّنْ أَرْ‌ضِكُم بِسِحْرِ‌هِمَا وَيَذْهَبَا بِطَرِ‌يقَتِكُمُ الْمُثْلَىٰ

Said they, "Certainly, these two are sorcerers who wish to drive you out from your land and do away with your excellent way of life. (20:63)

The word مُثْلَىٰ is the feminine of which means "most excellent". The meaning is that the Egyptians believed that their religion which regarded the Pharaoh as god was the best and Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) and Sayyidna Harun (علیہ السلام) wanted to destroy it and supplant their own religion in its place. The word طَرِیقَہ (translated in the text as 'way of life' ) is also used to describe the chiefs and leading citizens and according to Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ and Sayyidna ` Ali ؓ the word has been used here in this sense namely that these two men wished to finish off all their leaders and important citizens and it was therefore, the duty of the Egyptian magicians to unite and use their best endeavours to defeat the enemy

فَأَجْمِعُوا كَيْدَكُمْ ثُمَّ ائْتُوا صَفًّا (So, make your plot firm and forth in one row - 20:64). Formation of troops in ranks in battle has an unsettling effect on the enemy, so the Egyptian magicians arranged themselves in ranks for the contest.

The Egyptians were confident of their success and in a mood of complacency asked Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) whether he would like to make the first move or whether they should initiate the contest. Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) invited them to start the contest (Rather, you throw - 20:66) and there were several reasons for this. In the first place the Egyptians showed courage when they invited Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) to open the battle and this offer called for an equally generous and chivalrous response. Secondly by making the offer the Egyptians showed their confidence in the outcome of the contest and implied as if they had already won it. On his side Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) ، by his counter-offer, sought to convey to the Egyptians that he regarded the result of the game as a foregone conclusion in his own favour. And finally he wished to see the tricks of the Egyptians before he planned his own strategy. So, with these preliminaries over, the Egyptians cast their staffs and ropes on the ground and it appeared to the onlookers as if they had turned into snakes and were running about.

يُخَيَّلُ إِلَيْهِ مِن سِحْرِ‌هِمْ أَنَّهَا تَسْعَىٰ (Their ropes and sticks seemed to him, due to their magic, as if they were running - 20:66). The verse shows that the Egyptian magicians had cast a hypnotic spell on the onlookers to whom it appeared that the staffs and the ropes had turned into snakes and were running about on the ground, whereas in fact no such transformation had taken place.