Tafsir of Al-Qasas 28:48

(But when the truth came to them), meaning those people—and what is intended here are the people of Mecca who were present at the time of the mission, with all the following plural pronouns referring back to them—(from Us), meaning the truthful matter, which is the Quran revealed to him (upon him be prayer and peace), (they said, out of stubbornness and as a challenge: "Why was he not given), meaning the Prophet (upon him be prayer and peace), (like that which was given to Moses) (upon him be peace), in terms of the Scripture revealed all at once.

His saying (Exalted is He): (Did they not disbelieve in that which was given to Moses before?) is a rebuttal to them and a demonstration that what they said was pure stubbornness and not a request for that which would guide them to the truth. (And before) is connected to "disbelieve." Connecting it to "was given" does not yield a clear aspect, as it would be a restriction without benefit, given that it is known that what was given to Moses (upon him be peace) was before Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) or before these disbelievers. Yes, the matter of the rebuttal remains the same: "Did they not disbelieve before this statement in what was given to Moses (upon him be peace), just as they disbelieved in this truth?"

His saying (Exalted is He): (They said) is an initiation brought forth to confirm their disbelief, which is understood from the previous denial, and to explain its nature. His saying (Exalted is He): (Two works of magic) is the predicate for an omitted subject; meaning, "These two"—referring to what was given to our Prophet and what was given to Moses (upon both be prayer and peace)—"are two works of magic." (Supporting each other), meaning they cooperated by each confirming and endorsing the other. This occurred when the people of Mecca sent a delegation of their own to the leaders of the Jews during one of their festivals and asked them about the Prophet’s affairs (upon him be prayer and peace). The Jews replied: "We do not find him in the Torah by his characteristics and description." When the delegation returned and informed them of what the Jews had said, they made that statement.

His saying (Exalted is He): (And they said: "We are, in both, disbelievers"), meaning in each of the two books, is a declaration of their disbelief in both and an emphasis on the disbelief understood from calling them magic, due to the extremity of their arrogance and their persistence in disbelief and tyranny. The majority recited it as (Two magicians), and by it, the disbelievers meant our Prophet and Moses (upon both be prayer and peace).

Talha and al-A‘mash recited it as athāharā with a connecting hamza and a tashdid (doubling) on the ẓā’; this is also found in the codex of ‘Abdullah. Its root is taẓāharā. When the tā’ was changed into a ẓā’ and merged, it became quiescent, so a connecting hamza was introduced to begin with the quiescent letter. Mahbub narrated from al-Hasan, Yahya ibn al-Harith al-Dhimari, Abu Haywah, and Abu Khallad from al-Yazidi the recitation taẓāharā with the tā’ and a tashdid on the ẓā’. Ibn Khalawayh said: "Its tashdid is a solecism (laḥn), for it is a past tense verb, and tashdid is only used in the imperfect tense." The author of al-Lawami‘ said: "I do not recognize its rationale." The author of al-Kamil fi al-Qira’at said: "It has no meaning." Abu Hayyan interpreted this as being an imperfect verb from which the nūn was dropped without a preceding factor of the accusative or jussive case, and such dropping has occurred in limited instances in speech and poetry.

As for (Two magicians), it is the predicate for an omitted subject; the original phrasing was "You two are two magicians who support one another" (antumā sāḥirāni tataẓāharāni). "You two" (antumā) was omitted, the tā’ was merged into the ẓā’, and the nūn was dropped, observing the second-person address. If it were recited as yuẓāhirāni with a yā’ (in the third person), based on observing "two magicians" or referring to the two of them, there would be a rationale for it. It is as if they addressed the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) with that, and meant both him and Moses (upon both be prayer and peace) using the pronoun "you two" by way of predominance (taghlīb). This interpretation of the verse as mentioned is free of forcedness, and it is perhaps what the eloquence of the sublime composition demands and what the appearance of His saying (Exalted is He) necessitates.