In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
8. Allâh! Lâ ilâhla illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He)! To Him belong the Best Names.
9. And has there come to you the story of Mûsa (Moses)?
10. When he saw a fire, he said to his family: “Wait! Verily, I have seen a fire, perhaps I can bring you some burning brand therefrom, or find some guidance at the fire.”
11. And when he came to it (the fire), he was called by name: “O Mûsa (Moses)!
12. “Verily! I am your Lord! So take off your shoes, you are in the sacred valley, Tuwa.
13. “And I have chosen you. So listen to that which is inspired to you.
14. “Verily! I am Allâh! Lâ ilâha illa Ana (none has the right to be worshipped but I), so worship Me, and perform AsSalât (Iqâmat-as-Salât) for My Remembrance.
15. “Verily, the Hour is coming and My Will is to keep it hidden that every person may be rewarded for that which he strives.
16. “Therefore, let not the one who believes not therein (i.e. in the Day of Resurrection, Reckoning, Paradise and Hell, etc.), but follows his own lusts, divert you therefrom, lest you perish.
17. “And what is that in your right hand, O Mûsa (Moses)?”
18. He said: “This is my stick, whereon I lean, and wherewith I beat down branches for my sheep, and wherein I find other uses.”
19. (Allâh) said: “Cast it down, O Mûsa (Moses)!”
20. He cast it down, and behold! It was a snake, moving quickly.
21. Allâh said:”Grasp it, and fear not, We shall return it to its former state,
22. “And press your (right) hand to your (left) side, it will come forth white (and shining), without any disease as another sign,
23. “That We may show you (some) of Our Greater Signs.
24. “Go to Fir’aun (Pharaoh)! Verily, he has transgressed (all bounds in disbelief and disobedience, and has behaved as an arrogant, and as a tyrant).”
25. [Mûsa (Moses)] said: “O my Lord! Open for me my chest (grant me self-confidence, contentment, and boldness).
26. “And ease my task for me;
27. “And make loose the knot (the defect) from my tongue, (i.e. remove the incorrectness from my speech) [That occurred as a result of a brand of fire which Mûsa (Moses) put in his mouth when he was an infant]. [Tafsir At-Tabarî, Vol. 16, Page 159].
28. “That they understand my speech,
29. “And appoint for me a helper from my family,
30. “Hârûn (Aaron), my brother;
31. “Increase my strength with him,
32. “And let him share my task (of conveying Allâh’s Message and Prophethood),
33. “That we may glorify You much,
34. “And remember You much,
35. “Verily! You are of us Ever a Well-Seer.”
36. Allâh said: “You are granted your request, O Mûsa (Moses)!
37. “And indeed We conferred a favour on you another time (before).
38. “When We inspired your mother with that which We inspired.
39. “Saying: ‘Put him (the child) into the Tabût (a box or a case or a chest) and put it into the river (Nile), then the river shall cast it up on the bank, and there, an enemy of Mine and an enemy of his shall take him.’ And I endued you with love from Me, in order that you may be brought up under My Eye,
40. “When your sister went and said: ‘Shall I show you one who will nurse him?’ So We restored you to your mother, that she might cool her eyes and she should not grieve. Then you did kill a man, but We saved you from great distress and tried you with a heavy trial. Then you stayed a number of years with the people of Madyan (Midian). Then you came here according to the fixed term which I ordained (for you), O Mûsa (Moses)!
41. “And I have Istana’tuka, for Myself.
42. “Go you and your brother with My Ayât (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.), and do not, you both, slacken and become weak in My Remembrance.
43. “Go, both of you, to Fir’aun (Pharaoh), verily, he has transgressed (all bounds in disbelief and disobedience and behaved as an arrogant and as a tyrant).
44. “And speak to him mildly, perhaps he may accept admonition or fear Allâh.”
45. They said: “Our Lord! Verily! We fear lest he should hasten to punish us or lest he should transgress (all bounds against us).”
46. He (Allâh) said: “Fear not, verily! I am with you both, hearing and seeing.
47. “So go you both to him, and say: ‘Verily, we are Messengers of your Lord, so let the Children of Israel go with us, and torment them not; indeed, we have come with a sign from your Lord! And peace will be upon him who follows the guidance!
48. ‘Truly, it has been revealed to us that the torment will be for him who denies [believes not in the Oneness of Allâh, and in His Messengers, etc.], and turns away.'(from the truth and obedience of Allâh)”
49. Fir’aun (Pharaoh) said: “Who then, O Mûsa (Moses), is the Lord of you two?”
50. [Mûsa (Moses)] said: “Our Lord is He Who gave to each thing its form and nature, then guided it aright.”
51. [Fir’aun (Pharaoh)] said: “What about the generations of old?”
52. [Mûsa (Moses)] said: “The knowledge thereof is with my Lord, in a Record. My Lord is neither unaware nor He forgets, “
53. Who has made earth for you like a bed (spread out); and has opened roads (ways and paths etc.) for you therein; and has sent down water (rain) from the sky. And We have brought forth with it various kinds of vegetation.
54. Eat and pasture your cattle, (therein); verily, in this are proofs and signs for men of understanding.
55. Thereof (the earth) We created you, and into it We shall return you, and from it We shall bring you out once again.
56. And indeed We showed him [Fir’aun (Pharaoh)] all Our Signs and Evidences, but he denied and refused.
57. He [Fir’aun (Pharaoh)] said: “Have you come to drive us out of our land with your magic, O Mûsa (Moses)?
58. “Then verily, we can produce magic the like thereof; so appoint a meeting between us and you, which neither we, nor you shall fail to keep, in an open wide place where both shall have a just and equal chance (and beholders could witness the competition).”
59. [Mûsa (Moses)] said: “Your appointed meeting is the day of the festival, and let the people assemble when the sun has risen (forenoon).”
60. So Fir’aun (Pharaoh) withdrew, devised his plot and then came back.
61. Mûsa (Moses) said to them: “Woe unto you! Invent not a lie against Allâh, lest He should destroy you completely by a torment. And surely, he who invents a lie (against Allâh) will fail miserably.”
62. Then they debated with one another what they must do, and they kept their talk secret.
63. They said: “Verily! These are two magicians. Their object is to drive you out from your land with magic, and overcome your chiefs and nobles.
64. “So devise your plot, and then assemble in line. And whoever overcomes this day will be indeed successful.”
65. They said:”O Mûsa (Moses)! Either you throw first or we be the first to throw?”
66. [Mûsa (Moses)] said: “Nay, throw you (first)!” Then behold, their ropes and their sticks, by their magic, appeared to him as though they moved fast.
67. So Mûsa (Moses) conceived a fear in himself.
68. We (Allâh) said: “Fear not! Surely, you will have the upper hand.
69. “And throw that which is in your right hand! It will swallow up that which they have made. That which they have made is only a magician’s trick, and the magician will never be successful, no matter whatever amount (of skill) he may attain.”
70. So the magicians fell down prostrate. They said: “We believe in the Lord of Hârûn (Aaron) and Mûsa (Moses).”
71. [Fir’aun (Pharaoh)] said: “Believe you in him [Mûsa (Moses)] before I give you permission? Verily! He is your chief who taught you magic. So I will surely cut off your hands and feet on opposite sides, and I will surely crucify you on the trunks of date-palms, and you shall surely know which of us [I (Fir’aun Pharaoh) or the Lord of Mûsa (Moses) (Allâh)] can give the severe and more lasting torment.”
72. They said: “We prefer you not over the clear signs that have come to us, and to Him (Allâh) Who created us. So decree whatever you desire to decree, for you can only decree (regarding) this life of the world.
73. “Verily! We have believed in our Lord, that He may forgive us our faults, and the magic to which you did compel us. And Allâh is better as regards reward in comparison to your [Fir’aun’s (Pharaoh)] reward, and more lasting (as regards punishment in comparison to your punishment).”
74. Verily! Whoever comes to his Lord as a Mujrim (criminal, polytheist, disbeliever in the Oneness of Allâh and His Messengers, sinner, etc.), then surely, for him is Hell, therein he will neither die nor live.
75. But whoever comes to Him (Allâh) as a believer (in the Oneness of Allâh, etc.), and has done righteous good deeds, for such are the high ranks (in the Hereafter),
76. ‘Adn (Edn) Paradise (everlasting Gardens), under which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever: such is the reward of those who purify themselves [(by abstaining from all kinds of sins and evil deeds) which Allâh has forbidden and by doing all that which Allâh has ordained)].
Sura 20. Ta-Ha
[1]: Audio lecture on Pharaoh and his people can be found here.