سورة الاٴعرَاف
Surah Al-A‘râf 7:117
The Elevated Places · Verse 117 of 206
وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَىٰ مُوسَىٰ أَنْ أَلْقِ عَصَاكَ ۖ فَإِذَا هِيَ تَلْقَفُ مَا يَأْفِكُونَ
Abdul Mannan Omar
And We sent a revelation to Moses (saying), `Cast your staff (now).´ Then it began to destroy (as he did it) all their lying show.
Abdullah Yusuf Ali
We put it into Moses's mind by inspiration: "Throw (now) thy rod":and behold! it swallows up straight away all the falsehoods which they fake!
Ahmed Ali
We said to Moses: "Throw down your staff;" and it swallowed up their conjurations in no time.
12 more translations
Ali Unal
We revealed to Moses: "Throw down your staff!" and behold! it swallowed up their false devices.
Daryabadi
And we revealed unto Musa: cast down thy rod. And lo! it Was swallowing up that which they had feigned.
Faridul Haque
And We inspired Moosa that, "Put forth your staff"; it immediately began swallowing up their fabrications.
Maulana Muhammad Ali
And We revealed to Moses: Cast thy rod. Then lo! it swallowed up their lies.
Maulvi Sher Ali
And WE revealed to Moses: `Throw thy rod,' and lo ! it swallowed up whatever they feigned.
Muhammad Asad
And [then] We inspired Moses, "Throw down thy staff!" - and lo! it swallowed up all their deceptions
Muhammad Musin Khan
And We inspired Musa (Moses) (saying): "Throw your stick," and behold! It swallowed up straight away all the falsehoods which they showed.
Muhammad Pickthall
And We inspired Moses (saying): Throw thy staff! And lo! it swallowed up their lying show.
Muhammad Sarwar
We inspired Moses to throw his staff, and suddenly it began to swallow-up all that the magicians had (falsely) invented.
Muhammed ali Shakir
And We revealed to Musa, saying: Cast your rod; then lo! it devoured the lies they told.
Rashad Khalifa
We then inspired Moses: "Throw down your staff," whereupon it swallowed whatever they fabricated.
Shabbir Ahmed
So, We inspired Moses, “Respond with conviction. And then see how it swallows their deceptive rhetoric.”
Commentary 7:117 The staff of Moses was a simple shepherds wooden stick, which he used “to beat the leaves to make them fall for his sheep” (20:18). This staff symbolized…
وَأَوْحَيْنَا إِلَىٰ مُوسَىٰ أَنْ أَلْقِ عَصَاكَ ۖ فَإِذَا هِيَ تَلْقَفُ مَا يَأْفِكُونَ
7:117 The staff of Moses was a simple shepherds wooden stick, which he used “to beat the leaves to make them fall for his sheep” (20:18). This staff symbolized the spiritual power of a great Prophet. Assisted with the Divine knowledge he was able to counter the trickery of the sorcerers and establish the truth. The Holy Qur’ân in SûrahTâhâ contains the words “Their cords and their staves appeared to him (Moses) by their tricksters only as though they ran about” (20:66). The cords and the staves did not actually change into serpents; the show of the sorcerers was nothing but chicanery. Again, we read the Divine words spoken to Moses, “Now, cast you down that which you have in your right hand. It will destroy their artifices, for all they have wrought is the device of a sorcerer” (20:69). This shows that the staff of Moses did not turn into a serpent; it merely exposed the dupery of the sorcerers. This statement is in agreement with the present verse.
The words Talqaf mâ Yâfkûnتَلْقَفُ مَا يَأْفِكُونَ are sometimes wrongly translated or understood to mean that the rod of Moses was in fact transformed into a serpent and this serpent started eating the small serpents of the sorcerers. Such a translation is an example of Israîlyat, meaning—the influence of the Bible on the translators of the Holy Qur’ân. The word talqaf تَلْقَفُ according to Qâmûs means to catch a thing immediately (tanâwalhû bi-sura‘tin تناوله بسرعة ); Yâfakûn يَأْفِكُونَ is ifka wa afûka kazaba إفكا و أفوك كزب- what was lied (Qâmûs). The correct translation should be “it began to expose their lying show”.