Surah 20. Ta-Ha

He answered: "Nay, you throw [first]. "And lo! by virtue of their sorcery, their [magic] ropes and staffs seemed to him to be moving rapidly:

  - Mohammad Asad

Musa replied: "Go ahead, throw down first". Suddenly it appeared to Musa as if their cords and staffs were moving about because of their magic,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

He said: Nay, do ye throw! Then Lo! their cords and their staves, by their magic, appeared to him as though they ran.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and in his heart Moses became apprehensive.⁴⁸

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "conceived fear within himself". The implication is that the feat of the sorcerers was based on mass-hallucination (cf. 7:116 - "they cast a spell upon the people's eyes"), a hallucination to which even Moses succumbed for a while.

and Musa conceived fear within himself.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And Moses conceived a fear in his mind

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[But] We said: "Fear not! Verily, it is thou who shalt prevail!

  - Mohammad Asad

We said: "Do not be afraid! You will surely come out on top.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

We said: Fear not! Lo! thou art the higher.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And [now] throw that [staff] which is in thy right hand - it shall swallow up all that they have wrought: [for] they have wrought only a sorcerer's artifice, and the sorcerer can never come to any good, whatever he may aim at!"⁴⁹

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "wherever he may come" - i.e., irrespective of whether he aims at a good or at an evil end (Razi). The above statement implies a categorical condemnation of all endeavours which fall under the heading of "magic", whatever the intention of the person who devotes himself to it. (In this connection, see also surah {2}, note [84].)

Throw that which is in your right hand. It will swallow up every thing they have produced. What they have produced is nothing but a magician's trick, and a magician can never succeed against a miracle no matter how skillful he may be."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Throw that which is in thy right hand! It will eat up that which they have made. Lo! that which they have made but a wizards artifice, and a wizard shall not be successful to whatever point (of skill) he may attain.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[And so it happened⁵⁰ -] and down fell the sorcerers, prostrating themselves in adoration,⁵¹ [and] exclaimed: "We have come to believe in the Sustainer of Moses and Aaron!"

  - Mohammad Asad

Cf. {7:117-119}.

See note [90] on 7:120 .

When the magicians saw the serpent of Musa swallowing all their display, being professionals they knew that it was not magic, so the magicians humbled themselves by prostrating and said: "We believe in the Rabb of Haroon and Musa."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Then the wizards were (all) flung down prostrate, crying: We believe in the Lord of Aaron and Moses.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Said [Pharaoh]: "Have you come to believe in him⁵² ere I have given you permission? Verily, he must be your master who has taught you magic! But I shall most certainly cut off your hands and feet in great numbers, because of [your] perverseness, and I shall most certainly crucify you in great numbers on trunks of palm-trees:⁵³ and [I shall do this] so that you might come to know for certain as to which of us [two]⁵⁴ can inflict a more severe chastisement, and [which] is the more abiding!"

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., Moses (cf. note [91] on 7:123 ).

Regarding the meaning of the stress on "great numbers", forthcoming from the grammatical form of the verbs employed by Pharaoh, see surah {7}, note [92].

Sc., "I or the God in whom you now believe".

Fir'on said: "How do you dare to believe in Him without my permission? This man must be your master, who taught you witchcraft. Well, I will cut off your hands and feet on alternate sides and crucify you on trunks of palm-trees; then you will know which one of us can give a more terrible and more lasting punishment."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

(Pharaoh) said: Ye put faith in him before I give you leave. Lo! he is your chief who taught you magic. Now surely I shall cut off your hands and your feet alternately, and I shall crucify you on the trunks of palm trees, and ye shall know for certain which of us hath sterner and more lasting punishment.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

They answered: "Never shall we prefer thee to all the evidence of the truth that has come unto us, nor to Him who has brought us into being! Decree, then, whatever thou art going to decree: thou canst decree only [something that pertains to] this worldly life!⁵⁵

  - Mohammad Asad

Or: "thou canst end [for us] only this worldly life". It is to be noted that the verb qada signifies, among other meanings, "he decreed" as well as "he ended [something]".

The magicians replied: "We can never prefer you, rather we prefer the miracle which we have witnessed and Him Who has created us. Therefore do whatever you will; you can only punish us in this worldly life.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

They said: We choose thee not above the clear proofs that have come unto us, and above Him Who created us. So decree what thou wilt decree. Thou wilt end for us only the life of the world.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

As for us, behold, we have come to believe in our Sustainer, [hoping] that He may forgive us our faults and all that magic unto which thou hast forced us:⁵⁶ for God is the best [to look forward to], and the One who is truly abiding."⁵⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

Pharaoh (a title borne by every indigenous ruler of Egypt) was considered to be a "god-king" and, thus, the embodiment of the Egyptian religion, in which occult practices and magic played a very important role; hence, every one of his subjects was duty-bound to accept magic as an integral part of the scheme of life.

Lit., "and the most abiding", i.e., eternal: cf. {55:26-27}.

As for us, we have believed in our Rabb so that He may forgive us our sins and the magic you have forced us to practice. Better is the ever lasting reward of Allah."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Lo! we believe in our Lord, that He may forgive us our sins and the magic unto which thou didst force us. Allah is better and more lasting.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

VERILY, as for him who shall appear before his Sustainer [on Judgment Day] lost in sin-his [portion], behold, shall be hell: he will neither die therein nor live;⁵⁸

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., he will neither be reborn spiritually nor find peace through extinction (Baghawi, Baydawi). As is apparent from the juxtaposition, in the next verse, of the term mujrim (rendered by me as "one who is lost in sin") with that of mu'min ("believer"), the former term is here applied to one who, in his lifetime, has consciously and persistently denied God (Baydawi).

Surely he who will come to his Rabb as a sinner shall be consigned to Hell - wherein he shall neither die nor live.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Lo! whoso cometh guilty unto his Lord, verily for him is hell. There he will neither die nor live.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

whereas he who shall appear before Him as a believer who has done righteous deeds⁵⁹ - it is such that shall have lofty stations [in the life to come]:

  - Mohammad Asad

Thus the Qur'an implies - here as well as in many other places - that the spiritual value of a person's faith depends on his doing righteous deeds as well: cf. the statement in 6:158 that on Judgment Day "believing will be of no avail to any human being... who, while believing, did no good works".

While he who will come to Him as a believer and has done good deeds shall have the highest ranks

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

But whoso cometh unto Him a believer, having done good works, for such are the high stations;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

gardens of perpetual bliss, through which running waters flow, therein to abide: for that shall be the recompense of all who attain to purity.

  - Mohammad Asad

- Gardens of Eden, beneath which rivers flow, live therein forever; such is the reward of those who purify themselves from evil.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Gardens of Eden underneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide for ever. That is the reward of him who groweth.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

AND, INDEED, [a time came⁶⁰ when] We thus inspired Moses: "Go forth with My servants by night, and strike out for them a dry path through the sea; [and] fear not of being overtaken, and dread not [the sea]."⁶¹

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., after all the trials which the Israelites had to undergo in Egypt, and after the plagues with which Pharaoh and his followers were afflicted (cf. {7 :130}ff.).

Referring to the phrase "strike out (idrib) for them a dry path through the sea", Tabari explains it as meaning "choose (ittakidh) for them a dry path". See also {26:63-66} and the corresponding notes [33] and [35].

We sent Our revelation to Musa, saying: "Set forth with my servants at night and strike a dry path for them through the sea without fear of being overtaken by Fir'on and without any fear while passing through the sea."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And verily We inspired Moses, saying: Take away My slaves by night and strike for them a dry path in the sea, fearing not to be overtaken, neither being afraid (of the sea).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And Pharaoh pursued them with his hosts: and they were overwhelmed by the sea which was destined to overwhelm them⁶²

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "there overwhelmed them [that] of the sea which overwhelmed them" - expressing the inevitability of the doom which encompassed them.

Fir'on followed them with his armies but the waters completely overwhelmed them as it could overwhelm them.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Then Pharaoh followed with his hosts and there covered them that which did cover them of the sea.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

because Pharaoh had led his people astray and had not guided [them] aright.

  - Mohammad Asad

Thus Fir'on misled his people instead of guiding them aright.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And Pharaoh led his folk astray, he did not guide them.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

O children of Israel! [Thus] We saved you from your enemy, and [then] We made a covenant with you on the right-hand slope of Mount Sinai,⁶³ and repeatedly sent down manna and quails unto you, [saying,]

  - Mohammad Asad

See note [38] on 19:52 . As regards God's "covenant" with the children of Israel, see 2:63 and {83}.

O Children of Israel! We delivered you from your enemy, We fixed a time to grant you The Taurat on the right side of Mount Tur and We sent down to you Manna (sweet dish) and Salva (quail meat)

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

O Children of Israel! We delivered you from your enemy, and We made a covenant with you on the holy mountain's side, and sent down on you the manna and the quails,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall