Surah Al-A'raf 7:116

(Either you throw (first), or shall we have the (first) throw) before you. In another Ayah, they said,

(Or we be the first to throw) 20:65. Musa said to them, you throw first. It was said that the wisdom behind asking them to throw first, is that - Allah knows best - the people might witness the magicians' sorcery first. When the magicians had cast their spell and captured the eyes, the clear and unequivocal truth came, at a time when they all anticipated and waited for it to come, thus making the truth even more impressive to their hearts. This is what happened. Allah said,

(So when they threw, they bewitched the eyes of the people, and struck terror into them,) meaning, they deceived the eyes and made them think that thet trick was real, when it was only an illusion, just as Allah said,

(So Musa conceived fear in himself. We (Allah) said: "Fear not! Surely, you will have the upper hand. 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, to whatever amount (of skill) he may attain") 20:67-69. Ibn `Abbas commented that the magicians threw, "Thick ropes and long sticks, and they appeared to be crawling, an illusion that they created with their magic."

Nabi Musa mempersilakan mereka untuk mendahului, tanpa merasa khawatir terhadap kekuatan dan keampuhan sihir mereka, karena ia yakin akan pertolongan Allah, dan ia yakin bahwa mukjizat tidak akan terkalahkan oleh sihir manusia.

Ahli-ahli sihir itu lalu menjatuhkan tali-tali dan tongkat-tongkat mereka ke tanah, dan mereka menyihir penglihatan orang banyak yang menyaksikan peristiwa tersebut, termasuk Nabi Musa sendiri, orang banyak terpengaruh oleh sihir mereka melihat semua tali dan tongkat tersebut telah berubah menjadi ular sehingga mereka merasa takut, karena mereka menyangka itu ular sebenarnya. Firman Allah :

Maka tiba-tiba tali-tali dan tongkat-tongkat mereka terbayang olehnya (Musa) seakan-akan ia merayap cepat, karena sihir mereka. (thaha/20: 66)

Mereka itu tampaknya berhasil melakukan sihir yang dahsyat dan mempunyai pengaruh yang besar terhadap orang-orang yang menyaksikannya. Bahkan Nabi Musa sendiri pun pada mulanya merasa gentar juga. Hal ini disebutkan Allah pada ayat-ayat lain dengan firman-Nya:

Dan firman-Nya dalam ayat berikut:

Maka Musa merasa takut dalam hatinya. Kami berfirman: Jangan takut! Sungguh engkaulah yang unggul (menang). (thaha/20: 67-68)