They said, “O Moses, either you throw, or we will be the first to throw.” (65) He said, “Rather, you throw.” Then suddenly, their ropes and staffs appeared to him, because of their magic, to be moving. (66) So Moses felt a fear within himself. (67)

“Then gather your scheme together”: Abu Amr recited it as fajma'u, with the alif joined in recitation and the mim carrying a fathah, derived from “gathering.” That is, do not leave out any part of your scheme, but bring all of it forth, as indicated by His saying, “So he gathered his scheme together.” The others recited it with a disjunctive alif and the mim carrying a kasrah. It has been said that it likewise means gathering; the Arabs say, ajma'tu al-shay'a and jama'tuhu, with the same meaning.

The correct view, however, is that it means firm resolve and careful planning: that is, all of you should resolve together upon your scheme, and do not differ among yourselves, lest your affair be disrupted.

“Then come forward in a single line”: that is, all together, according to Muqatil and al-Kalbi. Others said: lined up together, so that it would be more imposing and awe-inspiring. Abu Ubaydah said: al-saff means a gathered assembly, and the place of prayer is also called a saff. Its meaning is: then come to the appointed place.

“And today, whoever prevails will surely prosper”: that is, whoever overcomes will be victorious.

“They said”—that is, the magicians—“O Moses, either you throw”—your staff—“or we will be the first to throw”—their staffs. Moses said, “Rather, you throw first.” Then suddenly, their ropes—and their staffs, the plural of staff—appeared to him. There is an implied omission here: they threw, and then suddenly their ropes and staffs appeared to him. Ibn Amir and Yaqub recited tukhayyal, with the feminine prefix, referring back to the ropes and staffs. The others recited it with the masculine prefix, referring it back to the trickery and magic: “because of their magic, they appeared to be moving.”

It is related in the account that when they threw down the ropes and staffs, they bewitched the people’s eyes. Moses and the people saw as though the earth had been filled with snakes, seeming to stretch for a mile in every direction, and they saw them moving about (1).

“So Moses felt a fear within himself”: that is, he experienced it. It was also said that he concealed fear within himself. They differed regarding the nature of his fear. It was said that it was the natural fear of a human being, for he thought that they were coming toward him.

Muqatil said: He feared that the matter would become confused for the people, causing them to doubt his mission and thus not follow him.