قَالُوا يَا مُوسَى إِمَّا أَنْ تُلْقِيَ وَإِمَّا أَنْ نَكُونَ نَحْنُ الْمُلْقِينَ ﴿۱۱۵﴾ قَالَ أَلْقُوا فَلَمَّا أَلْقَوْا سَحَرُوا أَعْيُنَ النَّاسِ وَاسْتَرْهَبُوهُمْ وَجَاءُوا بِسِحْرٍ عَظِيمٍ ﴿۱۱۶﴾ وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَى مُوسَى أَنْ أَلْقِ عَصَاكَ فَإِذَا هِيَ تَلْقَفُ مَا يَأْفِكُونَ ﴿۱۱۷﴾ فَوَقَعَ الْحَقُّ وَبَطَلَ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ ﴿۱۱۸﴾ فَغُلِبُوا هُنَالِكَ وَانْقَلَبُوا صَاغِرِينَ ﴿۱۱۹﴾

﴾115﴿ Qaaloo yaa Moosaaa immaaa an tulqiya wa immaaa an nakoona nahnul mulqeen
﴾116﴿ Qaala alqoo falam maaa alqaw saharooo a'yunannaasi wastarhaboohum wa jaaa'oo bisihrin 'azeem
﴾117﴿ Wa awhainaaa ilaa Moosaaa an alqi 'asaaka fa izaa hiya talqafu maa ya'fikoon
﴾118﴿ Fawaqa'al haqqu wa batala maa kaanoo ya'maloon
﴾119﴿ Wa ulqiyas saharatu saajideen

﴾115﴿ They said, “O Musa (Moses), either you throw (first), or let us be the first to throw.”
﴾116﴿ Musa (peace be upon him) said, “Throw (first), you.” So when they threw, they bewitched the eyes of the people and terrified them, and brought forth a great magic (in their estimation).
﴾117﴿ And We revealed to Musa (peace be upon him), “Throw your staff,” and suddenly it swallowed up what they had fabricated.
﴾118﴿ So the truth became manifest, and what they were doing was made false.
﴾119﴿ So they were defeated then and there, and they turned (these followers of Pharaoh) humiliated.

[115] This was the respect the magicians showed toward Musa (peace be upon him), and because of this, Allah the Exalted granted them faith.
This has been written by Sharbini.
[116] This is evidence that the effect of magic is real, and it does not contradict a person’s perfection.
For this reason, it even affected Musa (peace be upon him), as mentioned in verse (66) of Surah Taha.
This type of magic was related to visual illusion — it affected Musa (peace be upon him) only through the imaginative faculty, not through reason.
Magic cannot affect the rational strength of the prophets.
The word “ʿAẓīm” (عَظِيمٍ) points to the fact that there were many staffs, ropes, and magicians — that is the greatness mentioned. Or it could mean “great” in their own perception.
[117] Musa (peace be upon him) was waiting for revelation; for this reason, the phrase (وَأَوْحَيْنَا) is used, indicating that miracles are not under the Prophet's control to perform whenever he wishes, but rather, he always needs revelation.
(تَلْقَفُ)—the apparent meaning is that the serpent formed from the staff of Musa (peace be upon him) swallowed all their staffs and ropes into its mouth. Some scholars say that "swallowing" here refers to ending the effect of their magic.
(يَأْفِكُونَ)—"Ifk" means to alter something from its original state, and it is used in the context of falsehood. So, they had changed the form of the ropes and staffs into snakes, and by ending their effect, that too is considered as swallowing.
[118] This is the result of the first confrontation. The word (فَوَقَعَ) indicates a definite manifestation, one in which no doubt remains.
(وَبَطَلَ) means it became useless and ineffective, or it was annihilated—both interpretations are possible.
[119] These pronouns refer to the followers of Pharaoh, and this is evidence that Pharaoh cannot be considered a god or lord.
This is another apparent result of the confrontation.