Allah, exalted is He, says:

“So Pharaoh turned away, marshalled his plot, and then returned. Moses said to them, ‘Woe to you! Do not fabricate lies against Allah, lest He annihilate you with a punishment; for the one who fabricates has indeed lost.’ They argued among themselves about their affair and kept their counsel secret. They said, ‘These two men are certainly magicians who wish to drive you out of your land with their sorcery and put an end to your most excellent way. So agree on your strategy, then come forward in ranks; today the one who gains the upper hand will surely prosper.’” (Tā Hā 20:60–64)

Allah informs us that Pharaoh went off and gathered every magician in his dominion. Egypt at that time was teeming with magicians, masters of their craft, so they were summoned from every town and region until an immense multitude assembled.

It is reported that there were eighty thousand of them, according to Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb; others said seventy thousand, as related by al-Qāsim ibn Abī Bazza. Al-Suddi held that they were a little over thirty thousand. Abū Umāmah said nineteen thousand; Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq put them at fifteen thousand; and Kaʿb al-Aḥbār said they were twelve thousand. Ibn Abī Ḥātim narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās that they were seventy men, and it is also related from him that they were forty youths from the Children of Israel whom Pharaoh had ordered to learn sorcery—hence their later words, “for the magic to which you compelled us” (Tā Hā 20:73). This latter report, however, is open to question.

Pharaoh himself attended, together with his nobles, the dignitaries of his court, and the populace of his land, every last one of them. He had proclaimed that they should all be present at this momentous event, so they came out saying, “Perhaps we will follow the magicians if they prove victorious.”

Moses, peace be upon him, advanced toward the magicians and exhorted them, forbidding them to engage in the false sorcery that would set them in opposition to Allah’s signs and proofs. He declared, “Woe to you! Do not fabricate lies against Allah, lest He annihilate you with a punishment; for the one who fabricates has indeed lost.” They then disputed among themselves about their affair—some saying, “These are the words of a prophet, not a magician,” while others insisted, “Rather, he is a magician.” Allah knows best.

They whispered their deliberations in secret, saying, “These two are nothing but magicians who wish to expel you from your land by their sorcery.” They meant that this man and his brother Aaron were skilled, consummate magicians whose aim was to rally the people around them, overthrow the ruler and his courtiers, eradicate all of you, and seize authority by means of this craft. Thus they urged one another, “So agree on your strategy, then come forward in ranks; today the one who gains the upper hand will indeed prosper.”