Surah Taa-Haa (20): Read Online and Download - English Translation

The Egyptians were confident of their success and in a mood of complacency asked Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) whether he would like to make the first move or whether they should initiate the contest. Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) invited them to start the contest (Rather, you throw - 20:66) and there were several reasons for this. In the first place the Egyptians showed courage when they invited Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) to open the battle and this offer called for an equally generous and chivalrous response. Secondly by making the offer the Egyptians showed their confidence in the outcome of the contest and implied as if they had already won it. On his side Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) ، by his counter-offer, sought to convey to the Egyptians that he regarded the result of the game as a foregone conclusion in his own favour. And finally he wished to see the tricks of the Egyptians before he planned his own strategy. So, with these preliminaries over, the Egyptians cast their staffs and ropes on the ground and it appeared to the onlookers as if they had turned into snakes and were running about.

يُخَيَّلُ إِلَيْهِ مِن سِحْرِ‌هِمْ أَنَّهَا تَسْعَىٰ (Their ropes and sticks seemed to him, due to their magic, as if they were running - 20:66). The verse shows that the Egyptian magicians had cast a hypnotic spell on the onlookers to whom it appeared that the staffs and the ropes had turned into snakes and were running about on the ground, whereas in fact no such transformation had taken place.

فَأَوْجَسَ فِي نَفْسِهِ خِيفَةً مُّوسَىٰ (So Musa concealed some fear in his heart - 20:67.). The sight of so many snakes crawling around evoked a sense of fear in Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) which he did not reveal to anyone. Even if this fear was for his own personal safety then it can be regarded as a natural human reaction to a dangerous situation and does not conflict with the mission of prophethood. It is clear, however, that the fear which he felt was not for his own life. His apprehension was that if the immense crowd, which had assembled to see the contest, sensed that the Egyptian magicians had the upper hand then the purpose of his mission would be frustrated. These doubts and fears were dispelled when in the next verse Allah assured him لَا تَخَفْ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْأَعْلَىٰ (do not be scared. Certainly, you are to be the upper most - 20:68).

وَأَلْقِ مَا فِي يَمِينِكَ (And throw what is in your right hand - 20:69). Allah commanded Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) by means of a revelation (وحی) to cast down what he held in his right hand, and when he threw down his staff it turned into a huge snake and ate up all the imaginary snakes which the Egyptian magicians had produced by their magic.

Conversion to Islam and bowing in prostration by the Pharaoh's magicians

The Egyptian magicians who were masters of their art realized at once that what they had just witnessed was not magic but a miracle brought about by a Supreme Power. Consequently they fell in prostration and declared openly their faith in Allah - the God of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) and Sayyidna Harun (علیہ السلام) . According to some traditions these magicians did not raise their heads until they had seen a glimpse of heaven and hell. (رواہ عبد بن حمید و ابن ابی حاتم وابن ال؛منذر عن عکرمہ - روح)

قَالَ آمَنتُمْ لَهُ قَبْلَ أَنْ آذَنَ لَكُمْ (He [ the Pharaoh ] said, "You have believed in him before I permit you" - 20:71). The Pharaoh, thus disgraced before a vast multitude, was furious and he stormed at the magicians how they dared accept the religion brought by Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) without his prior permission. He suspected that they all were Sayyidna Musa's (علیہ السلام) pupils who taught them the magic and had accepted defeat in connivance with him.

فَلَأُقَطِّعَنَّ أَيْدِيَكُمْ وَأَرْ‌جُلَكُم مِّنْ خِلَافٍ (I will certainly cut apart your hands and your legs from opposite sides - 20:71). The Pharaoh thus threatened his magicians with dire punishment. He said he would cut off their hands and feet from opposite sides i.e. first the right hand, then the left foot. This apparently was the mode of inflicting punishment under the laws of the Pharaoh. وَلَأُصَلِّبَنَّكُمْ فِي جُذُوعِ النَّخْلِ (And will crucify you on the trunks of palm-trees - 20:71) He also said that after cutting off their hands and feet he would crucify them on the trunks of palm-trees where they would remain suspended until they died of starvation.

قَالُوا لَن نُّؤْثِرَ‌كَ عَلَىٰ مَا جَاءَنَا مِنَ الْبَيِّنَاتِ وَالَّذِي فَطَرَ‌نَا (They said, "We will never prefer you over the clear signs that have come to us, and over Him who created us." - 20:72). The magicians, however, stood firm and did not waver in the face of the Pharaoh's threats. They told him plainly that they would not give him, nor anything he said, preference over the clear proofs and the miracles which Allah had shown to them. Sayyidna ` Ikrimah ؓ says that when the magicians prostrated themselves before Allah, He gave them a glimpse of the eminent places and the gifts which were to be their reward in Paradise. They confirmed their belief in the one God Who created the earth and the skies and rejected Pharaoh's claim to divinity: While neglecting the threats of the Pharaoh they further said: "So you do what you want and punish us in whatever manner you choose. And, "You can punish us as long as we live but when we die we will be out of your reach. On the other hand we are in the power of Allah both in this and after death, and His punishment is of greater concern to us".

وَمَا أَكْرَ‌هْتَنَا عَلَيْهِ مِنَ السِّحْرِ‌ (And the magic you had compelled us on - 20:73). The magicians now accused the Pharaoh of having forced them to practice magic else they would not have taken it up. Here a question may arise that the magicians came to the contest of their own free choice and had even negotiated beforehand their reward if they were victorious. How, then, could they justify their accusation that the Pharaoh had forced them to practice magic? A possible answer can be that whereas the magicians, to begin with, were tempted by promises of generous rewards for taking part in the contest they soon realized that they stood no chance against miracles and wanted to withdraw from the contest. It was then that the Pharaoh forced them to take up the challenge of Musa (علیہ السلام) . Another explanation is that under a law passed by the Pharaoh everybody was compelled to learn magic.

The propitious end of 'Asiyah ؓ ، the Pharaoh's wife

Qurtubi has mentioned in his commentary that while the contest between vice and virtue was in progress, the Pharaoh's wife kept herself informed of the minute to minute developments and when she learned that Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) had emerged victorious, she at once declared her adherence to the True Faith. When the Pharaoh was informed of his wife's defection, he ordered that a huge rock be thrown upon her. When 'Asiyah saw the rock coming, she raised her eyes in supplication to Allah who took away her soul so that the rock fell on her lifeless body.

Revolutionary change in the lives of the magicians

إِنَّهُ مَن يَأْتِ رَ‌بَّهُ مُجْرِ‌مً---- وَذَٰلِكَ جَزَاءُ مَن تَزَكَّىٰ

Surely whoever comes to his Lord as a sinner, for him there is Jahannam .:.. And whoever comes to Him as a believer ... for such people there are the highest ranks.... (20:74-76)

These words which refer to the Islamic beliefs and the hereafter have been spoken by the magician who only recently became Muslims and who had not yet been instructed about the principles and the obligations of the new faith.

It was the result of their brief association with Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) that Allah, in an instant, revealed to them the mysteries of their new faith so that they gave scarce heed to Pharaoh's threats. Thus with the adoption of the religion of Allah they attained a state of sainthood which is given to others after long and assiduous exertions. Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas and ` Ubaid Ibn ` Umair ؓ said it was a divine marvel that the magicians who started the day as infidels became saints before it ended. (Ibn Kathir)