Tafsir of Al-Mu'minoon 23:45

"Then We sent Moses..."

If you ask: What is meant by "clear authority" (sultan mubin)?

I say: It is possible that the staff is intended, because it was the mother of Moses’ signs and the foremost among them. Various miracles were attached to it: its transformation into a serpent, its swallowing of what the sorcerers had fabricated, the parting of the sea, the gushing forth of springs from the rock when he struck it, and its serving as a guardian, a torch, a green fruit-bearing tree, and a bucket and rope. It was treated as if it were something distinct from the other signs due to the superiority it possessed; thus, it was conjoined to them, similar to the Almighty’s saying: {And Gabriel and Michael} (Al-Baqarah: 98).

It is also possible that the signs themselves are intended—meaning: they are signs and a clear proof.

{Arrogant} (‘alin): Haughty. {Indeed, Pharaoh exalted himself in the land} (Al-Qasas: 4); {They do not desire exaltation in the land} (Al-Qasas: 83). Or, it means those who tower over people, subduing them through transgression and oppression.

{They said, "Should we believe two men like ourselves, while their people are our servants?" So they denied them and became of those destroyed.}