Moses said, “I did it then, while I was among those who were astray.” That is, it was not done out of disbelief, but rather from error and foolishness. So I sought my Lord’s forgiveness, and He forgave me.
“Then I fled from you when I feared you,” when you discussed putting me to death. I fled to Midian, remained there for several years, and then returned to you. “Then my Lord granted me sound judgment and made me one of the messengers.”
In sum, Pharaoh’s objection to Moses was the objection of an ignorant man—or one feigning ignorance. He considered Moses’s prior killing of a man an impediment to his being a messenger. Moses therefore explained that the killing had occurred in error and by mistake, without his intending to kill the man. Moreover, no one can bar Allah’s bounty. Why, then, would you bar me from the sound judgment and messengership that Allah has granted me?
The only claim left for you to make, Pharaoh, is your statement, “Did we not raise you among us as a child?” Yet careful examination shows that you have no favor to claim in this regard. Moses therefore said, “And is this a favor with which you reproach me—that you enslaved the Children of Israel?”
That is, you claim this favor over me because you subjected the Children of Israel to forced labor and reduced them to the status of slaves, while sparing me from your enslavement and forced labor—and then you regarded that as a favor to me! When the matter is properly considered, the truth becomes clear: you wronged this noble people, tortured them, and subjected them to your labor, while Allah spared me from your harm even though that harm reached my people. What, then, is this favor that you repeatedly hold over me and invoke?
“Pharaoh said, ‘And what is the Lord of all worlds?’” This was a wrongful and arrogant denial of his Lord, even though he was certain of the truth of that to which Moses called him. Moses said, “The Lord of the heavens and the earth and all that lies between them.”
That is, the One who created the higher and lower worlds, governs them in every way, and sustains them through every form of care. You who are being addressed are yourselves included among His creation. How, then, can you deny the Creator of all creatures and the Originator of the earth and the heavens, “if you are truly certain”?
Pharaoh then said derisively, seeking to make his people marvel, “Will you not listen”—to what this man is saying? Moses said, “Your Lord and the Lord of your forefathers of old,” whether you marvel or not, and whether you respond arrogantly or submit.
Pharaoh stubbornly opposed the truth and disparaged the one who had brought it, saying, “Indeed, this messenger of yours who has been sent to you is surely mad,” because he spoke contrary to their beliefs and opposed the course they had adopted. In Pharaoh’s view, reason—and the position of rational people—was to claim that they had not been created, or that the heavens and the earth had always existed without anyone bringing them into existence, and that they themselves had come into being without a creator. In his view, reason meant worshipping a created being deficient in every respect, while madness meant affirming the Lord who created the higher and lower worlds, who bestowed blessings both outward and inward, and calling people to worship Him.
He made this claim seem appealing to his people, for they were foolish in judgment and feeble in reason: “Thus he made fools of his people, and they obeyed him. They were truly a rebellious people.” Moses—peace be upon him—then replied to Pharaoh’s denial and rejection of the Lord of all worlds: “The Lord of the east and the west and all that lies between them,” including every other created being, “if only you would reason.”
I have given you an explanation so clear that anyone possessing even the slightest shred of reason can understand it. Why, then, do you feign ignorance concerning what I am telling you? This also contains an indication and warning that the madness of which they accused Moses was actually their own affliction. They accused the one among creation with the soundest reason and most complete knowledge of madness, when they themselves were mad: their reason had deserted them because they denied the most evident of all that exists—the Creator of the earth, the heavens, and all that lies between them. If you deny Him, what can you affirm? If you are ignorant of Him, what can you know? If you do not believe in Him and His signs, then what, after Allah and His signs, will you believe in? By Allah, madmen who are like beasts are more rational than you, and freely grazing cattle are better guided than you.
When the argument left Pharaoh cornered and his power and rhetoric proved incapable of any rebuttal, “he said,” threatening Moses with his authority, “If you take any god besides me, I will surely make you one of the imprisoned.” He imagined—may Allah disgrace him—that he might lead Moses astray and induce him to take no deity besides Pharaoh, even though it was already established that Moses and those with him proceeded with clear insight into their cause.
Moses said to him, “Even if I bring you something manifest?” That is, a clear and evident sign proving the truth of what I have brought—one of the extraordinary wonders.
⦗591⦘
“He said, ‘Then bring it, if you are truthful.’ So Moses cast down his staff, and suddenly it was a serpent”—that is, a male snake—“plainly visible,” evident to everyone, with no illusion or false semblance.
“And he drew out his hand” from within his garment, “and suddenly it appeared white to the onlookers.” That is, it shone with a tremendous light, with no blemish apparent to anyone who looked at it.
“He said”—Pharaoh—“to the chiefs around him,” opposing the truth and the one who had brought it, “This is surely a highly skilled sorcerer who seeks to drive you from your land.” Knowing the weakness of their minds, he deceived them by asserting that this was of the same kind as the things produced by sorcerers, for it was firmly established in their minds that sorcerers could produce wonders beyond the ability of ordinary people. He frightened them by claiming that Moses’s purpose in employing this sorcery was to find a means of expelling them from their homeland, so that they would exert themselves in opposing anyone who sought to drive them away from their children and homes. “What, then, do you command?” us to do with him?
“They said, ‘Postpone him and his brother’”—that is, delay dealing with them—“and send gatherers throughout the cities,” men who would assemble the people.
“They will bring you”—those gatherers—“every highly skilled sorcerer.” That is, send throughout all your cities, which are centers of learning and wellsprings of sorcery, men who will gather for you every accomplished sorcerer well versed in his craft. A sorcerer, they thought, must be countered with sorcery of the same kind.
It was part of Allah’s kindness that He should show His servants the falsity of the deception by which Pharaoh—ignorant, astray, and leading others astray—claimed that what Moses had brought was sorcery. Allah caused them to gather the masters of sorcery so that the assembly would take place before a vast multitude, the truth would prevail over falsehood, and those knowledgeable in the craft would acknowledge the truth of what Moses had brought and that it was not sorcery. Pharaoh acted upon their advice, sending men throughout the cities to gather the sorcerers. He exerted himself and pursued the matter diligently.
“Thus the sorcerers were assembled at the appointed time on a known day,” which Moses had appointed for them. It was the Festival Day, when they would be free from their occupations.
“And it was said to the people, ‘Will you gather?’” That is, a general proclamation was issued calling all the people to assemble on that appointed day.