Tafsir of Al-A'raf 7:113

"And the magicians came to Pharaoh..."

If you ask: Why was it not said: "And the magicians came to Pharaoh and said..."?

I reply: It is based on the assumption of a questioner asking: "What did they say when they came to him?" The answer is provided by His saying: {They said: "Is there for us a reward..."}—meaning a compensation for winning. It is also recited as: Inna lana la-ajran (Verily, for us is a reward), as a statement affirming and establishing a great reward. It is as if they said: "We must have a reward." The use of the indefinite form (ajran) is for magnification, like the Arabs saying: "He has camels" or "He has sheep," intending abundance.

If you ask: To what is {...and you will be among those brought near} conjoined?

I reply: It is conjoined to an omitted clause that the particle of affirmation (lam in la-ajran) has taken the place of. It is as if he said—affirming their statement "Is there for us a reward?": "Yes, for you is a reward, and you will be among those brought near." He meant: "I will not limit you to reward alone; you shall have, along with the reward, that which makes the reward seem small by comparison: proximity and honor." For one who is rewarded only finds joy and satisfaction in what he receives if he also attains dignity and status alongside it.

It is narrated that he said to them: "You shall be the first to enter and the last to leave."

It is also narrated that he summoned the heads of the magicians and their teachers and asked: "What have you prepared?" They replied: "We have learned magic that the magicians of the earth cannot withstand, unless it is a matter from heaven, for that we have no power over."

It is narrated that they were eighty thousand, or seventy thousand, or thirty-odd thousand. The reports vary between those who minimize and those who exaggerate. It is said they were taught by two Magians from Nineveh. It is also said that Pharaoh said: "We shall not overcome Moses except with that which is of his own kind," meaning magic.

{They said: "O Moses, either you throw, or we will be the ones to throw." He said: "Throw." And when they threw, they bewitched the eyes of the people and struck terror into them, and they produced a great magic. And We inspired to Moses: "Throw your staff," and at once it devoured what they were fabricating. So the truth was established, and what they were doing was invalidated. And they were overcome right there and became humbled. And the magicians fell down in prostration. They said: "We have believed in the Lord of the worlds, the Lord of Moses and Aaron."}