(Pharaoh) said: ‘If you ever serve a god other than me, I will most certainly have you imprisoned.’
Said (Moses): ‘Even if I bring before you a clear proof?’
(Pharaoh) said: ‘Produce it, then, if you are a man of truth.’
So he threw down his staff and behold, it was a serpent, plain for all to see.
And he drew out his hand, and behold, it was white to the onlookers.
(Pharaoh) said to the noble ones around him: ‘This is indeed a sorcerer of great knowledge who wants to drive you out of your land by his sorcery. What, then, do you advise?’
They said: ‘Let him and his brother wait a while, and send heralds to all cities to bring before you every sorcerer of great skill. (The Poets: Al-Shu’ara: 26: 29-37)
When Moses, fulfilling God’s instructions, went to Pharaoh and demanded the release of the children of Israel, Pharaoh tried to ridicule him and his mission, but Moses was firm in his stand, making clear to Pharaoh and his noblemen that he advocated belief in God, the Lord of all worlds.
The dialogue between the two, as reported in this surah, exposes the shallow grounds of disbelief and its reliance on tyrants and their brute force. Moses made clear to Pharaoh, in front of his noblemen, that God, who sent him as His messenger, is the Lord of all the worlds, including all human generations and the entire vast universe. He called on them to use their reason. Faced with such powerful argument, Pharaoh, the tyrant, felt ill at ease.
Tyranny does not fear anything more than the reawakening of people’s hearts. It does not hate anyone more than an advocate of clear vision and right thinking. Its main opponent is the one who tries to awaken people’s consciences. When Moses touched people’s hearts with his description of God Almighty, Pharaoh was extremely angry. He ended the argument with a clear threat of force, which is the ultimate resource of all tyrants, when they feel that the counterargument is too powerful. “(Pharaoh) said: If you ever serve a god other than me, I will most certainly have you imprisoned.”
Such is the argument and the evidence supporting it: A clear threat of imprisonment. The prison is available and the measure itself has been taken against others. It is a measure that exposes the weakness of falsehood when it faces the overwhelming power of the truth. But tyrants know no other way.
Nevertheless, Moses did not lose his composure. How could he when he is God’s messenger, enjoying the support God has promised him and his brother? Hence, he keeps the argument going, reopening the book Pharaoh wants to close, and giving a new piece of evidence: “Said (Moses): Even if I bring before you a clear proof?” Here he asks Pharaoh: will you still have me imprisoned if I provide an irrefutable proof that all I am saying is true? This put Pharaoh on the spot in front of all those who had heard all that Moses said. Pharaoh realized that if he were to refuse this new proof outright, he would only demonstrate his own weakness in the face of Moses’ powerful argument, despite his description of Moses as a madman. He felt that his only option was to demand such a proof: Hence, “(Pharaoh) said: Produce it, then, if you are a man of truth.”
“If you are a man of truth,” may be taken to mean “if you are truthful in what you claim to be”, or “if you truly have a clear proof.” Thus we see Pharaoh continuing to raise doubts about Moses, fearing that his argument might be well received by the people present.
At this point Moses produces his two physical miracles, having delayed that until Pharaoh has thrown his utmost challenge: “So he threw down his staff and behold, it was a serpent, plain for all to see. And he drew out his hand, and behold, it was white to the onlookers.” The way these two verses are phrased suggest that the staff was physically transformed into a real, living serpent. His hand, as he drew it, was really shining white. There was no delusion or fantasy of the sort sorcerers employ when they deceive the senses without altering any element of reality.
The miracle of life starting from where no human being knows occurs at every moment without people paying much attention to it, because of their long familiarity with it, or maybe because they do not look at it as a challenge. In Pharaoh’s court, and in front of all his people and entourage, the production of the two miracles had the effect of nothing less than a violent earthquake.
Pharaoh recognized that he was facing a powerful miracle, and he sensed the weakness of his own position. Hence he was quick with a damage-limitation exercise, trying to ensure the support of his people, raising their fear of Moses and his community: “(Pharaoh) said to the noble ones around him: This is indeed a sorcerer of great knowledge who wants to drive you out of your land by his sorcery. What, then, do you advise?’”
In this statement of Pharaoh we note three important elements: 1) His acknowledgement of the powerful miracle, even though he called it sorcery. He describes Moses as a “sorcerer of great knowledge”; 2) fearing that his people might be influenced by Moses and his miracle, he tries to raise their feelings against him, saying that he “wants to drive you out of your land”; 3) His adoption of a humble attitude with the people who he wanted to look at him as their lord. He asks them for advice, although Pharaoh never sought such advice while they prostrated themselves before him.
This is a typical position to which tyrants resort when they feel their grip on power weakening. They adopt a soft attitude, seeking the help of the people they have been trampling over. They put up a façade of consultation with them, but this is only temporary until they had passed the danger area. When they feel they are safe again, they go back to their tyranny and tolerate no opposition whatsoever.