Surah Al-A‘râf 7:107

فَأَلْقَىٰ عَصَاهُ فَإِذَا هِيَ ثُعْبَانٌ مُّبِينٌ

7:107 The miracle mentioned in the verse had a special significance. The serpent played an important role in Egyptian mythology. The sun god “Ra” won a great victory over the serpent Apophasis, typifying the victory of light over darkness. Many of their gods took the forms of snakes to scare their enemies. Moses staff as a symbol of a serpent appealed to the Egyptian mentality. The miracles by the Prophets are meant to serve spiritual purpose. The metaphor behind this miracle was that the people of Moses, as represented by his staff (which was emblematic of his community), would prevail over their foes. The Holy Qur’ân has used three different words for describing the turning of the staff of Moses into a serpent:

Thu‘bân mubînثُعْبَانٌ مُّبِينٌ means a serpent plainly visible (7:107). Thu‘bân ثُعْبَانٌ is an enormously long, fabulous serpent.

Hayyah tas‘â حيٌة تسعا is a serpent moving about (20:20). Hayyah حيٌة is applied to both a large and a small serpent (Lisân).

Ja’ân جآن, a tiny serpent with quick movements (27:10; 28:31).

The different words have been used to suit different situations and indicate different attributes of the “serpent” symbolized by the staff. Thus, there is no conflict or contradiction in using these three different words for three different situations. The word jaân جآن has been used on the occasion when the staff is made to appear as a serpent to Moses alone. Hayyah tas‘â حيٌة تسعا and ja’ân جآن were visionary experiences of Moses. The description thu‘bânثُعْبَانٌ has been used in connection with the occasion when the miracle was made public; to the Pharaoh it appeared as if it was a large serpent. Thus, the use of different words for different occasions was deliberate and intended to serve a special purpose and meaning. Moses staff was an ordinary rod. He said, “On it I lean, with it I beat down fodder for my flocks and in it I find other uses” (20:18). Nowhere is it mentioned that whenever Moses flung down his staff, it turned into a serpent. The Holy Qur’ân lends no support to the idea that the staff actually turned into a real and living serpent. The staff only “appeared” like a swiftly moving serpent (20:66; 20:69). This may correspond to a state in which a person is temporarily transported in spiritual spheres, a state in which the Prophets and the righteous receive Divine Revelation. It is not a state of sleep but a state of certainty. It is a state in which the mind goes beyond the limits of the physical environment, beholding things that are invisible to the physical eye, hearing things that the physical ear cannot hear and smelling that which the physical nose cannot smell. So it may be that on these two occasions mentioned in the Holy Qur’ân, the sorcerers and the onlookers observed the staff in the shape of a serpent while they were in a state of temporary spell. The sorcerers were “impelled by Divine Mercy to fall down and prostrate and said, We believe in the Lord of the world, the Lord of Moses and Aaron.” (7:120-121). It was not just an ordinary snake but also the knowledge that convinced them and made them steadfast and ignore the threats of Pharaoh (7:123-124). They were transported to a state not known to them before; an experience that left unshakable belief in what they saw. Traditions of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) tell us that some Companions of the Holy Prophet (pbuh), who were sitting with him in the mosque (Bukhârî), saw Gabriel. Similarly, angels were seen by some of the disbelievers at the Battle of Badr (Jarîr; 6:47). Another instance of this kind took place when in the reign of ‘Umar(rz), the second caliph, a Muslim contingent under the well-known Muslim general Sâriyah was fighting the enemy in Syria. ‘Umar(rz), while delivering his Friday sermon at Madînah, saw in his vision that the rear of the Muslims contingent was about to be attacked by the enemy from behind and that a disastrous defeat was imminent. Thereupon he suddenly cried out from the pulpit, “O Sâriyah! Take to the mountain”. Sâriyah, hundreds of miles away and surrounded by the deafening noise of the battle heard the voice of ‘Umar(rz) and obeyed it, and the Muslim contingent was saved (Khamîs, 2:270).