Tafsir of Al-A'raf 7:126

وما تنقم منا إﻻ أن آمنا بايات ربنا لما جاءتنا

They said: "Verily, we are returning to our Lord. And you take vengeance on us only because we believed in the Ayat of our Lord when they reached us! They said, `We are now sure that we will go back to Allah. Certainly, Allah's punishment is more severe than your punishment and His torment for what you are calling us to, this day, and the magic you forced us to practice, is greater than your torment. Therefore, we will observe patience in the face of your punishment today, so that we are saved from Allah's torment.' They continued,

ربنا أفرغ علينا صبرا

"Our Lord! pour out on us patience,'' with your religion and being firm in it,

وتوفنا مسلمين

"and cause us to die as Muslims.'' as followers of Your Prophet Musa, peace be upon him. They also said to Fir`awn,

قالوا لن نوثرك على ما جاءنا من البينت والذى فطرنا فاقض ما أنت قاض إنما تقضى هذه الحيوة الدنيا

إنا آمنا بربنا ليغفر لنا خطينا وما أكرهتنا عليه من السحر والله خير وأبقى

إنه من يٲت ربه مجرما فٳن له جهنم ﻻ يموت فيها وﻻ يحيى

ومن يٲته مومنا قد عمل الصلحت فٲوليك لهم الدرجت العلى

"So decide whatever you desire to decree, for you can only decide for the life of this world. Verily, we have believed in our Lord, that He may forgive us our faults, and the magic to which you did compel us. And Allah is better (to reward) and more lasting (in punishment). Verily, whoever comes to his Lord as a criminal, then surely, for him is Hell, wherein he will neither die nor live. But whoever comes to Him (Allah) as a believer, and has done righteous good deeds, for such are the high ranks (in the Hereafter). (20:72-75) The magicians started the day as sorcerers and ended as honorable martyrs! Ibn Abbas, Ubayd bin Umayr, Qatadah and Ibn Jurayj commented, "They started the day as sorcerers and ended it as martyrs.''