Surah Ash-Shu'ara, Ayah 56

The Exodus of the Children of Israel from Egypt

After Musa stayed in Egypt for a long time, and the proof of Allah was established against Fir`awn and his chiefs, yet they were still arrogant and stubborn, then there was nothing left for them but punishment and vengeance. So Allah commanded Musa, peace be upon him, to take the Children of Israel out of Egypt by night, and take them wherever he would be commanded. So Musa, peace be upon him, did as he was commanded by his Lord, may He be glorified, and he led them forth after they had borrowed an abundance of jewelry from the people of Fir`awn. As more than one of the scholars of Tafsir have said, they left when the moon was rising, and Mujahid, may Allah have mercy on him, said that the moon was eclipsed that night. And Allah knows best. Musa asked about the grave of Yusuf (Prophet Joseph), peace be upon him, and an old woman from among the Children of Israel showed him where it was, so he took the remains with them, and it was said that they were among the things that were carried by Musa himself, may peace be upon them both. It was also said that Yusuf, peace be upon him, had left instructions in his will that if the Children of Israel ever left Egypt, they should take his remains with them. The following morning, when there was nobody to be found in the Israelite quarters, Fir`awn became angry and his anger intensified since Allah had decreed that he was to be destroyed. So he quickly sent his callers to all his cities, i.e., to mobilize his troops and bring them together, and he called out to them:

قَالُوا لَا ضَيْرَ‌ ۖ إِنَّا إِلَىٰ رَ‌بِّنَا مُنقَلِبُونَ

They said, "There is no harm. We are to return to our Lord. (26:50)

When the Pharaoh threatened the magicians to kill them, and to cut their limbs and to crucify them, the magicians replied rather indifferently, the gist of their reply was, ` You do whatever you can. We shall lose nothing. Even if we are killed we will go back to our Lord, where there is nothing but comfort'.

It is worth noting here that the magicians who had involved all their lives practicing the sinful sorcery and who believed in the Pharaoh's claim to be a god, rather, used to worship him, pronounced faith in Allah before that tyrant and despotic king and the entire nation. This was in itself something most astonishing and courageous, but it was not just the pronouncement of faith in Allah, but a demonstration of such deep devotion as if they could see the Dooms Day and the Hereafter before their eyes. The blessings and bounties of the Hereafter were within their sight, for which they raised themselves over and above any punishment or torment of this world, and said فَاقْضِ مَا أَنتَ قَاضٍ that is ` You do whatever you are to do (20:72). We are not going back from our faith'. This in fact was also a miracle of Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) which was no less than the miracle of the staff and the luminous hand. Many incidents of similar nature have also occurred with our Holy Prophet ﷺ . In one such incident a drastic change had occurred in a seventy years old infidel in that within a minute he not only converted to Islam, but was ready to lay down his life to become a martyr.

The embracing of the Faith by the magicians was a cause of great disgrace to Pharaoh. So, in order to salvage his position, he dubbed the whole incident a conspiracy. He alleged that they had colluded with Moses and that they had intentionally pretended to be defeated by him, so that Moses’s greatness could be impressed on the people’s hearts. Pharaoh announced his decision to the magicians that they would be punished for sedition; that their hands and legs would be cut off at random and they would be publicly crucified. In spite of these draconian orders, the magicians were not discouraged. Those very same magicians who had earlier pledged their allegiance to Pharaoh (verse 41) and asked to be rewarded, now fearlessly proclaimed that whatever Pharaoh did, they were not going to be dissuaded from accepting Moses’s religion. The reason for this high morale of theirs was the discovery of Faith. A man bears a loss when, by this loss, he expects to find something greater. Before embracing the faith, the greatest things the magicians could hope to have now were Pharaoh’s approval and his reward. But on embracing true religion, God and His Paradise now appeared to them to be greater than all else. That is why they were now ready to bear the losses of those very things which, prior to embracing the Faith, they had held too dear to part with.