7. Al-A'raaf

Those towns which have been mentioned We relate to you O Muhammad (s) some of their tidings some of the stories of their peoples. Verily their messengers brought them clear proofs manifest miracles but they would not believe when these signscame to them in what they had denied disbelieved in before before these signs came to them; nay they persisted in disbelief. Thus does God seal up the hearts of the disbelievers.

And We did not find in most of them that is people any covenant that is any loyalty to a covenant from the day the pledge was made. Nay wa-in in is softened We found that most of them were indeed wicked.

And Moses said ‘O Pharaoh I am a messenger from the Lord of the Worlds to you but he denied him. So he Moses said

I am one for whom it is right for whom it is appropriate to say nothing but the truth about God a variant reading for ‘alā has ‘alayya ‘for me’ in which case haqīqun ‘it is right’ is the subject of the sentence its predicate being an ‘that’ and what follows it sc. ‘I say nothing but the truth about God’. Truly I have come to you with a clear proof from your Lord. So send forth with me to Syria the Children of Israel’ he Pharaoh had enslaved them.

Said he Pharaoh to him ‘If you have come with a sign as you claim then produce it if you are of those who speak the truth’ in this.

Then he cast down his staff and lo! it was a serpent manifest for all to see an enormous snake.

And he drew forth his hand he took it out from his bosom and lo! it was white radiant for the beholders and not its usual skin colour.

The council of Pharaoh’s folk said ‘Surely this man is a cunning sorcerer outstanding in the art of magic in sūrat al-Shu‘arā’ Q. 2634 these are actually Pharaoh’s words and so it is as if they said it in consultation with him

who would expel you from your land. So what do you command?’