The discourse here concerns a competition between Moses and some of the Pharaoh’s magicians. Moses wins the competition—and their conversion—when he uses his rod to swallow up their ropes and rods. However, this detail in verses 46-48 concerning the sorcerers throwing themselves down and professing their belief in God (“Lord of the worlds”) of Moses is contradicted elsewhere in the Qur’ān. (See Q 10.83 and the critical analysis of Q 7.117-122, Qur’ān Dilemma 1: 461.)

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al-Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-bayān, on Q 10:83 · link checked 2026-10-12

This item merges 4 entries of the original site that carried the same text across the passage (old ids 397, 398, 399, 400; the old ids redirect here).