Tafsir of Ghafir 40:23-25

{And a clear authority} A manifest proof, which are the miracles. They said: "He is a lying sorcerer," thus labeling the clear authority as sorcery and a lie.

{But when he brought them the truth} Meaning, prophethood.

If you ask: Was the killing of the sons and the sparing of the women not done previously out of fear that the child—whose appearance and the end of his kingdom at his hands had been foretold by the soothsayers—would be born?

I reply: That killing had already occurred, and this is a different killing. Regarding the words of Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both): {They said: "Kill..."}, he meant: "Resume the killing against them just as it was in the beginning." This implies that this is a killing distinct from the first.

{In error} In loss and futility; it was in vain and did not avail them. It means they engaged in killing them the first time, yet it did not protect them, and Allah’s decree was fulfilled by the emergence of the one they feared. Therefore, this second killing will not avail them either.

Pharaoh had previously ceased the killing of the children, but when Moses was sent and he sensed that [the prophecy] had come to pass, he resumed it against them out of rage and fury, thinking he would thereby deter them from supporting Moses. He did not know that his plotting was futile in both instances.

{And Pharaoh said: "Let me kill Moses, and let him call upon his Lord. Indeed, I fear that he will change your religion or that he will cause corruption to appear in the land."}