Ṭāhā

قَالُوا يَامُوسَي إِمَّآ أَن تُلْقِيَ وإِمَّآ أَن نَّكُونَ أَوَّلَ مَنْ أَلْقَي

قَالَ بَلْ أَلْقُوا فَإِذَا حِبَالُهُمْ وَعِصِيُّهُمْ يُخَيَّلُ إِلَيْهِ مِن سِحْرِهِمْ أَنَّها تَسْعَي

فَاَوْجَسَ فِي نَفْسِهِ خِيفَةً مُّوسَي

65. “They (the sorcerers) said: ‘O’ Moses! Will you throw, or shall we be the first who throw?’”
66. “He (Moses) said: ‘Nay, do you throw (yours)!’ Then behold, their ropes and their rods seemed to him, by their sorcery, as if they were sliding.”
67. “Then Moses felt in himself a fear.”

The Arabic word /hibal/ is the plural form of /habl/ which means ‘rope, string’, and the Arabic term /‘isiyy/ is the plural form of /‘asa/ (rod, stick). The Qur’anic term /’aujasa/ is derived from /wajasa/ in the sense of ‘a hidden sound’ and thus the word /’ijas/ is applied for the things which are hidden in inward. Amir-ul-mu’mineen Ali (as) in Nahjulbalaqah, concerning The Commentary of the last verse of the verses mentioned in the above, says:

“The fear of Moses (as) was for the effect of sorcery on the ignorant people.” ⁵

However, the sorcerers untied and made decision to stand against Moses and challenge with him. When they entered into the concerning arena, they began saying as follows:

But Moses (as), who was completely assured of his final victory, did not make any haste; and apart from it, in such circumstances winner is usually he who does not take the lead. Therefore, he responded them like this:

The sorcerers accepted it and whatever means, such as ropes and rods, they had brought with them they cast wholly on the land of arena. And, if we accept the narration which indicates they were one thousand sorcerers, that means that, in a moment, thousands of ropes and rods, in which some special material had been stored, were thrown in the middle of arena in front of the crowd. Then, suddenly, as a result of their sorcery, their ropes and rods seemed to the people and Moses (as) as if they were moving.

The verse continues saying:

Yes, those ropes ands rods, in the form of some small and big snakes, in different colours and kinds, began sliding on the ground. It was a wonderful scene. The sorcerers, who not only were numerous but also knew well the style of using the mysterious physical and chemical peculiarities of the materials and the like of them. It could penetrate in the thoughts of the audience so amazingly that they imagined that those lifeless various things were animated.

The people of Pharaoh made a happy clamor. Some of them, because of horror, cried and withdrew themselves. It was at this moment that Moses (as) was nearly frightened at the situation, thinking that people might be so seriously charmed by that event that it was not easy for him to return them and their thoughts back to the reality. The verse says: