Tafsir of Ta-Ha 20:70

The fa in the words of the Exalted, "So the sorcerers fell down in prostration," is an expository fa that implies omitted clauses which need not be explicitly stated. That is: the fear dissipated, he [Moses] cast what was in his right hand, it became a serpent, and it swallowed their ropes and staffs. They realized that this was a miracle, so the sorcerers cast themselves upon their faces in prostration to Allah—the Exalted and Majestic—repentant and believing in Him and in the message of Moses, peace be upon him.

It is narrated that their leader said: "We used to overcome the people, and the tools [of our magic] would remain with us; if this were magic, then where have our [items] gone?" Thus, he inferred the existence of the All-Powerful, All-Knowing Creator through the transformation of the states of physical bodies, and he inferred the truthfulness of his message through the manifestation of this at the hands of Moses, peace be upon him. It was as if those ropes and staffs became scattered dust, and their total annihilation was [a realization] possible for us to grasp.

The expression "fell down" (ulqiya) rather than "they prostrated" (fasajadu) indicates that they witnessed something that so profoundly unsettled them that they could not restrain themselves, and they fell upon their faces in prostration. Therein lies an awakening for the listener to the graces of Allah—the Exalted—in guiding whomsoever He wills from His servants from the extremity of disbelief and obstinacy to the pinnacle of faith and rectitude, while also maintaining congruity and proportion. The intended meaning is that they hastened to prostration. It is said: they did not lift their heads from prostration until they saw Paradise and Hell, and the reward and the punishment.

'Abd bin Humayd, Ibn al-Mundhir, and Ibn Abi Hatim narrated from 'Ikrimah that when they fell in prostration, Allah the Exalted showed them their stations in Paradise during their prostration. The Judge [al-Qadi] considered this improbable, arguing that it is akin to compulsion toward faith, which contradicts the state of religious responsibility (taklif). The response provided is that since faith was already established prior to this unveiling, there is no contradiction or compulsion. In Irshad al-'Aql al-Salim, it is stated that their words, "We have believed in the Lord of our worlds, the Lord of Moses and Aaron," do not contradict this, because those stations became theirs specifically due to the utterance of this declaration.

"They said" is a new beginning, as has been mentioned more than once: "We have believed in the Lord of Aaron and Moses." The delay of Moses, peace be upon him, when recounting their speech—contrary to what is mentioned in Surah al-A'raf where Moses, peace be upon him, is mentioned first—is because he is more noble than Aaron, and the call and the message were primarily and essentially for him, and the miracle appeared at his hands, peace be upon him; [the reversal here is] to observe the [rhythmic] ends of the verses. It is also permitted that their speech occurred in this specific order, and they placed Aaron, peace be upon him, first because he was older in age. The assertion of the Sayyid in his commentary on al-Miftah that Moses was older than Aaron, peace be upon them both, is an oversight. Alternatively, it may have been to avoid a false assumption on the part of Pharaoh and his people, since Pharaoh had raised Moses, peace be upon him; if they had mentioned Moses first, the accursed one and his people might have assumed from the outset that they were referring to Pharaoh [as their lord]. The priority [of Moses' name] in Surah al-A'raf is an emphasis within that specific narration for that particular point.

Abu Hayyan permitted the possibility that what is stated here was the speech of one group among them, and what is stated there was the speech of another, each observing the relevant nuance of their context. However, since the speech shares the same meaning, it is correct to attribute both versions to all of them collectively. The selection of this phrasing here is more consistent with the verses of this Surah.