Tafsir of Ta-Ha 20:65-66

{أن} (that), along with what follows it, is either in the accusative case due to an implied verb, or in the nominative case as the predicate of an omitted subject. Its meaning is: "Choose one of two matters: either your casting or our casting."

This offer of choice from them was a display of refined etiquette, humility, and deference toward him. It served to signal that they were offering him fairness. It is as if Allah, the Almighty and Exalted, inspired them to do this, and He taught Moses—peace be upon him—to choose for them to cast first. This was done to reciprocate their etiquette with etiquette, so that they might reveal the tricks of sorcery they possessed and exhaust the full extent of their capacity and effort. Once they had done so, Allah would manifest His authority, cast the truth against falsehood to crush it, and empower the miracle over the sorcery to annihilate it, serving as a luminous sign for the observers and a clear lesson for those who take heed.

Regarding {إذا} (when/suddenly) here: It is the idha of suddenness (mufaja'ah). The investigation into it is that it is the idha that signifies time, requiring a governing verb and a sentence to which it is annexed. In some contexts, it is specified that its governing verb is a particular verb—the verb of suddenness—and the sentence following it is always an independent clause (ibtida'iyyah). Thus, the estimation of the Almighty’s saying, {فإذا حبالهم وعصيهم} (Then suddenly their ropes and their staffs), is: "Moses was suddenly confronted with the time when the movement of their ropes and staffs was imagined." This is a metaphor. The meaning is: "Upon his sudden encounter with their ropes and staffs, they appeared to him to be moving."

• Readings:
  • {عصيهم} (their staffs): Read with a damma (u), which is the original form. The reading with a kasra (i) is for phonetic harmony (itba'), similar to dili and duli, or qusi and qisi.
  • {تخيل} (it appeared): Read as attributed to the pronoun of the ropes and staffs, with the phrase {أنها تسعى} (that they were moving) acting as a badal ishtimal (substitution of inclusion) for the pronoun, similar to saying: "Zayd amazed me, his generosity."
  • {تخيل} (it was imagined): Read as meaning the ropes and staffs were made to appear as if they were moving.
  • {تخيل} (it appeared): Meaning tatakhayyal (it was appearing).
  • {نخيل} (We made it appear): Read as meaning that Allah, the Exalted, is the One who caused the appearance for the sake of trial and testing.

It is narrated that they coated them with mercury; when the sun struck them, they agitated and vibrated, and thus they appeared to be moving.

{فأوجس في نفسه خيفة موسى * قلنا لا تخف إنك أنت الأعلى * وألق ما في يمينك تلقف ما صنعوا إنما صنعوا كيد ساحر ولا يفلح الساحر حيث أتى}

(Then Moses sensed a fear within himself. We said, "Do not fear. Indeed, you are the superior. And throw what is in your right hand; it will swallow up what they have crafted. They have only crafted the trick of a sorcerer, and the sorcerer will not succeed wherever he goes.")