Tafsir of Al-A'raf 7:106

[Question]: How could he say to him, "Bring it," after saying, "If you have come..."?

[Response]: The meaning is: If you have come from the One who sent you with a sign, then bring it to me and present it before me so that your claim may be validated and your truthfulness established.

{A clear serpent}: Its nature is manifest, such that there is no doubt it is a serpent. It is narrated that it was a hairy, male serpent, its mouth agape, with eighty cubits between its jaws. It placed its lower jaw on the ground and its upper jaw on the palace wall. It then turned toward Pharaoh to seize him, so Pharaoh leaped from his throne and fled, defecating—something he had never done before. The people fled and cried out. It charged at the people, and they were routed; twenty-five thousand died, trampling one another. Pharaoh entered his house and cried out, "O Moses, take it, and I will believe in you and send the Children of Israel with you." So Moses took it, and it returned to being a staff.

[Question]: To what does "for the onlookers" (li-l-nāẓirīn) relate?

[Response]: It relates to "white" (bayḍāʾ). The meaning is: It was white for the onlookers. It would not be "white for the onlookers" unless it were a miraculous whiteness, outside the norm, causing people to gather to look at it just as spectators gather for wonders. It is narrated that he showed his hand to Pharaoh and asked, "What is this?" He replied, "Your hand." Then he inserted it into his garment—he was wearing a wool cloak—and withdrew it, and it was white with a luminous whiteness that outshone the rays of the sun. Moses (peace be upon him) was dark-skinned, of a very deep complexion.

{The eminent among the people of Pharaoh said, "Indeed, this is a learned magician. He wants to drive you out of your land, so what do you advise?" They said, "Postpone him and his brother, and send gatherers to the cities, who will bring you every learned magician."}