فَأَلقَوا حِبالَهُم وَعِصِيَّهُم وَقالوا بِعِزَّةِ فِرعَونَ إِنّا لَنَحنُ الغالِبونَ
And they threw their ropes and staffs, proclaiming, “By Pharaoh’s might, it is us who will prevail.”
فَأَلقىٰ موسىٰ عَصاهُ فَإِذا هِيَ تَلقَفُ ما يَأفِكونَ
Then Moses threw his staff, and behold, it started swallowing what they had fabricated.
فَأُلقِيَ السَّحَرَةُ ساجِدينَ
The sorcerers fell down in prostration.
قالوا آمَنّا بِرَبِّ العالَمينَ
Declaring, “We have believed in the Lord of the worlds.
رَبِّ موسىٰ وَهارونَ
The Lord of Moses and Aaron.”
قالَ آمَنتُم لَهُ قَبلَ أَن آذَنَ لَكُم ۖ إِنَّهُ لَكَبيرُكُمُ الَّذي عَلَّمَكُمُ السِّحرَ فَلَسَوفَ تَعلَمونَ ۚ لَأُقَطِّعَنَّ أَيدِيَكُم وَأَرجُلَكُم مِن خِلافٍ وَلَأُصَلِّبَنَّكُم أَجمَعينَ
He said, “How dare you believe in Him before I gave you permission! He is your chief who taught you magic. But you will soon know. I will cut off your hands and feet on opposite sides, and I will crucify you all.”
قالوا لا ضَيرَ ۖ إِنّا إِلىٰ رَبِّنا مُنقَلِبونَ
They said, “No harm, we are returning to our Lord anyway.
إِنّا نَطمَعُ أَن يَغفِرَ لَنا رَبُّنا خَطايانا أَن كُنّا أَوَّلَ المُؤمِنينَ
We aspire that our Lord will forgive our sins, as we are among the first believers.”
وَأَوحَينا إِلىٰ موسىٰ أَن أَسرِ بِعِبادي إِنَّكُم مُتَّبَعونَ
We then revealed to Moses: “Depart with My servants at night, and expect pursuit.”
فَأَرسَلَ فِرعَونُ فِي المَدائِنِ حاشِرينَ
Pharaoh then dispatched messengers throughout the cities:
إِنَّ هـٰؤُلاءِ لَشِرذِمَةٌ قَليلونَ
“These people are just a small gang.