ْقَالَ أَلَمْ 741 طٰهٰ
مِنْهَا خَلَقْنَاكُمْ وَفِيهَا نُعِيدُكُمْ وَمِنْهَا نُخْرِجُكُمْ تَارَةً أُخْرَى ﴿۵۵﴾ وَلَقَدْ أَرَيْنَاهُ آيَاتِنَا كُلَّهَا فَكَذَّبَ وَأَبَى ﴿۵۶﴾ قَالَ أَجِئْتَنَا لِتُخْرِجَنَا مِنْ أَرْضِنَا بِسِحْرِكَ يَا مُوسَى ﴿۵۷﴾ فَلَنَأْتِيَنَّكَ بِسِحْرٍ مِثْلِهِ فَاجْعَلْ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكَ مَوْعِدًا لَا نُخْلِفُهُ نَحْنُ وَلَا أَنْتَ مَكَانًا سُوًى ﴿۵۸﴾ قَالَ مَوْعِدُكُمْ يَوْمُ الزِّينَةِ وَأَنْ يُحْشَرَ النَّاسُ ضُحًى ﴿۵۹﴾
﴾55﴿ Minhaa khalaqnaakum wa feehaa nu'eedukum wa minhaa nukhrijukum taaratan ukhraa
﴾56﴿ Wa laqad arainaahu Aayaatinaa kullahaa fakaz zaba wa abaa
﴾57﴿ Qaala aji'tanaa litukhri janaa min ardinaa bisihrika yaa Moosa
﴾58﴿ Falanaatiyannaka bisihrim mislihee faj'al bainanaa wa bainaka maw'idal laa nukhlifuhoo nahnu wa laaa anta makaanan suwaa
﴾59﴿ Qaala maw'idukum yawmuz zeenati wa ai yuhsharan naasu duhaa
﴾55﴿ From this earth We created you, and into it We shall return you, and from it We shall bring you forth once again
﴾56﴿ And We certainly showed Pharaoh all Our signs, but he denied and rejected them
﴾57﴿ He said, Have you come to us, O Moses, to drive us out of our land with your magic
﴾58﴿ "Then we will bring forth magic like yours. So set an appointment between us and yourself, at a neutral place, where neither we nor you shall fail to attend
﴾59﴿ Moses (peace be upon him) said, "Your appointed time is the day of your festival, and let the people be assembled at mid-morning
[55] In this, there is another rational argument, and three states of human beings are mentioned – and in all three states, they are in need of Allah, the Exalted: first, giving life; then death; then giving life again (resurrection after death).
[56] From this verse begins the fourth section, continuing until verse (76). In this section, the confrontation of Musa (peace be upon him) with the magicians is mentioned, as well as his triumph over them. Then it mentions the magicians' faith and their courage. After that, there is a warning in verse (74) and glad tidings for the believers in verses (75 and 76).
In verse (56), all the miracles of Musa (peace be upon him) are mentioned briefly, and they are nine, as previously mentioned in verse (110) of Surah Bani Isra'il. The detailed account is mentioned in Surah Al-A‘raf.
"(Fa kadh-dhaba)" – this is a mention of the causes of punishment. What is meant by "rejected" is that he did not accept these signs as being from Allah, the Exalted. And "abā" means he refused to accept the oneness of Allah and the message (of His messenger).
[57] This objection of Pharaoh is either based on his delusion or he is deceiving his people—that this Musa (peace be upon him) is taking the homeland away from us. And he called the signs "magic."
[58] In this verse, Pharaoh is making a promise to Musa (peace be upon him) to confront him regarding the matter of magic, and he gives Musa (peace be upon him) the choice to set the date and place himself. "(Maw‘idan)" includes both time and place. "(Makānan suwan)" is an apposition (badal) of this, and the meaning of "suwan" is that it is a place between the two parties, accessible and easy for both to reach. Or "suwan" may also mean a level open field.
[59] In this verse, Musa (peace be upon him) set the time and date for the confrontation. For the date, he said "(Yawm al-Zīnah)"—meaning the day of festivity, which was either the day commemorating Pharaoh’s appearance or his coronation. With this phrase, the place was also implied, as such celebrations were held in the capital city.
This day was chosen because it was a public holiday, so many people would gather in the city to watch. And the time of mid-morning was chosen so that people from distant places could arrive and still return to their homes by nightfall. It would be convenient for the people and would not burden Pharaoh with the responsibility of providing food for them.