Surah 7. Al-A'raf, Ayah 124

The grammatical forms la-uqatti'anna and la-usallibannakam must be rendered as "most certainly shall I cut off [your hands and feet] in great numbers" and "crucify you in great numbers": and this indicates that either the repentant sorcerers thus addressed were many or, alternatively, that they had a large following among the people of Egypt. The latter assumption seems to be corroborated by the Biblical reference to the fact that many Egyptians joined the Israelites in their exodus from Egypt: "And a mixed multitude went up also with them" (Exodus xii, 38). As regards my rendering of min khilaf as "because of [your] perverseness", see surah {5}, note [44] (last sentence).