Allah mentioned the story of the magicians and Musa in Surat Al-A`raf (there is a commentary on it in that Surah), this Surah,Surat Ta Ha, and in Surat Ash-Shu`ara'. Fir`awn, may Allah's curse be upon him, wanted to deceive the people and impress them with the tricks of the magicians in direct opposition to the plain truth that Musa brought. The result was the exact opposite and he therefore didn't attain his goal. The signs of the Lord prevailed in that public festival.
(And the sorcerers fell down prostrate. They said: "We believe in the Lord of all that exists -- the Lord of Musa and Harun.")(7:120-122) Fir`awn thought that he would achieve victory through the magicians over the Messenger sent by Allah, the All-Knower of all hidden things. But he failed, lost Paradise and was deserving of the Hellfire.
It was said in the last verse (64) that, for the friends of Allah, there is the good news in the worldly life and in the Hereafter. As for the good news of the Hereafter, it will come at the time of death when the spirit of the deceased will be taken to Allah. At that time, he will hear the good news of Paradise being for him. Then, on the day of Qiyamah, when he rises from his grave, he will receive the good news of being welcome to Paradise. This is similar to what al-Tabarani has reported from Sayyidna Ibn ` Umar ؓ narrates that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said: ` People who recite: لا إلہ إلا اللہ (la ilaha illallah: There is no god but Allah) will not experience any fright at the time of death, nor inside the grave, nor at the time they rise from it. This is as if my eyes are seeing the scenario of that time when these people will, shaking the dust off, rise from their graves, saying: الْحَمْدُ لِلَّـهِ الَّذِي أَذْهَبَ عَنَّا الْحَزَنَ (Praised is Allah who has removed from us [ all ] grief - 35:34) '
When Pharaoh called upon expert magicians to perform, it was not because he thought that he would actually subdue Moses with their help. His action, rather than being a rational course to follow, was more the result of his over-anxiety to reject Moses. The plan to prove God’s Prophet wrong with the help of magicians was one whose failure could be foreseen. But when a man does not want to accept the truth and is bent upon rejecting it, this desire takes him to such extremes that he takes ill-advised steps to do so: he constructs a dam of tiny splinters to hold back a rising flood, though he knows full well that tiny splinters will be absolutely useless in this instance. So things happened as they were bound to happen. The magicians threw down on the ground ropes and sticks, which crept towards the people like snakes. Then Moses threw down his stick. This turned into a huge snake which started running along the ground. This ‘snake’ was not merely a snake; it was, in fact, a force of God which had appeared to establish truth as Truth and falsehood as falsehood. So, as soon as it appeared, the magicians’ ropes reverted to their original form. Thus Pharaoh was defeated in an arena he himself had chosen. But even then, Pharaoh did not accept defeat. He found words to contradict Moses as he had earlier done.
Uthmani text of the Madinah mushaf (King Fahd Complex). Translation: Saheeh International. Tafsir via Quran.com.
