“We said to Moses, ‘Do not be afraid; you will surely prevail. Cast down what is in your right hand, and it will swallow up what they have produced. What they have produced is only a magician’s trick, and the magician will not prosper wherever he may be.’ (68–69) Then the magicians fell down in prostration, saying, ‘We believe in the Lord of Aaron and Moses.’ (70) Pharaoh said, ‘Have you believed in him before I gave you permission? He is surely your chief, who taught you magic. I will certainly cut off your hands and feet on opposite sides, and I will certainly crucify you upon the trunks of palm trees. Then you will surely know which of us is more severe and more lasting in punishment.’ (71) They said, ‘We will never prefer you over the clear proofs that have come to us, or over Him who created us. So decree whatever you will decree; you can only decree concerning this worldly life.’ (72)

“We said” to Moses: “Do not be afraid; you will surely prevail”—that is, you will have the upper hand and be victorious. “Cast down what is in your right hand”—meaning the staff—“and it will swallow up,” that is, devour and consume, “what they have produced.” Ibn Amir recited it here as talqafu, with the final letter in the indicative form, while the others recited it in the jussive form as the response to the command.

“What they have produced” means: what they have done. “Is only a magician’s trick,” that is, a magical device. Hamzah and al-Kisa’i recited it as kaydu sihrin—“the trickery of magic”—with the letter sin carrying a kasrah and without an alif (1). The others recited: “a magician’s trick,” because attributing the trickery to its agent ⦗13/a⦘ is more appropriate than attributing it to the act itself, though the latter is not impermissible in Arabic.

“And the magician will not prosper wherever he may be”—that is, wherever he may be on earth. Ibn Abbas said: He will not attain happiness wherever he may be. It was also said that its meaning is: wherever he employs his stratagems.

“Then the magicians fell down in prostration, saying, ‘We believe in the Lord of Aaron and Moses.’ Pharaoh said, ‘Have you believed in him before I gave you permission? He is surely your chief’”—that is, your leader and teacher—“who taught you magic. I will certainly cut off your hands and feet on opposite sides, and I will certainly crucify you upon the trunks of palm trees,” that is, on the trunks of palm trees (2). “Then you will surely know which of us is more severe in punishment”: am I, because of your faith in him, or the Lord of Moses, because of your abandoning faith in Him? “And more lasting,” that is, more enduring.

“They said”—that is, the magicians—“We will never prefer you,” meaning, we will never choose you, “over the clear proofs that have come to us”