“He said, ‘Take hold of it and do not fear. We shall restore it to its former state. And draw your hand to your side; it will emerge white, without any blemish—another sign, that We may show you some of Our greatest signs. Go to Pharaoh, for he has indeed transgressed all bounds.’ Moses said, ‘My Lord, expand my breast for me.’”

“He said, ‘Take hold of it’”—with your right hand—“and do not fear. We shall restore it to its former state,” meaning, to its original form: We shall return it to being a staff as it was. Moses was wearing a woollen garment fastened with sticks. When Allah Most High said, “Take hold of it,” he wrapped the edge of the garment around his hand. Then Allah Most High commanded him to uncover his hand, and he uncovered it.

Some related that, when he wrapped the sleeve of the garment around his hand, an angel said to him, “Tell me: if Allah were to permit what you fear, would this garment avail you in any way?” He replied, “No, but I am weak, and I was created from weakness.” So he uncovered his hand and placed it in the snake’s mouth, whereupon it became a staff as it had been; and his hand was in its forked end, in the place where he would put it when leaning upon it. (1)

The exegetes said: Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, wished to show Moses the sign He had granted him, which no created being could bring about, so that ⦗11/b⦘ he would not be frightened by it when he cast it down before Pharaoh.

His saying, “to its former state,” is in the accusative because the preposition “to” has been omitted; that is, “to its former state.” His saying, “And draw your hand to your side,” means: to your armpit. Mujahid said: beneath your upper arm. A person’s wing is his upper arm down to the base of his armpit. “It will emerge white”—radiant and shining—“without any blemish,” that is, without any defect; here, “blemish” means leprosy. Ibn Abbas said: His hand possessed a brilliant light, illuminating by night and day like the light of the sun and the moon. “Another sign,” that is, another proof of your truthfulness besides the staff.

“That We may show you some of Our greatest signs.” He did not say “the greatest ones,” due to the verse endings. It was also said that an ellipsis is understood here; its meaning is: “that We may show you Our greatest sign.” This is supported by the statement of Ibn Abbas: Moses’s hand was the greatest of his signs.

Allah Most High said: “Go to Pharaoh, for he has indeed transgressed all bounds,” meaning that he had exceeded all limits in disobedience and rebellion; so call him to worship Me. Moses said: “My Lord, expand my breast for me”—make it receptive to the truth. Ibn Abbas said: this means, so that I will fear no one besides You. Moses greatly feared Pharaoh because of his immense power and the multitude of his troops, and he felt constrained at having been charged to confront Pharaoh alone. Thus, he asked Allah to expand his heart to receive the truth, so that he would know that no one could harm him except by Allah’s permission. Once he knew this, he would not fear Pharaoh, his immense power, or the multitude of his troops.