Al-Qur'an Surah Taha Verse 69

Mufti Taqi Usmani

And throw what is in your right hand, and it will devour what they have concocted. What they have concocted is but a sleight of a magician. And the magician does not succeed wherever he comes from.”

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

Cast what is in your right hand, and it will swallow up what they have made, for what they have made is no more than a magic trick. And magicians can never succeed wherever they go.”

Ruwwad Translation Center

Throw what is in your right hand; it will swallow up what they have contrived. They have only contrived a magic trick, and the magician will never prosper, wherever he goes.”

A. J. Arberry

Cast down what is in thy right hand, and it shall swallow what they have fashioned; for they have fashioned only the guile of a sorcerer, and the sorcerer prospers not; wherever he goes.'

Abdul Haleem

Throw down what is in your right hand: it will swallow up what they have produced. They have only produced the tricks of a sorcerer, and a sorcerer will not prosper, wherever he goes.’

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And cast thou down that which is in thy right hand: it shall swallow up that which they have wrought; They have wrought only a magician's stratagem; and the magician prospereth not wheresoever he cometh.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

"Throw that which is in thy right hand; Quickly will it swallow up that which they have faked what they have faked is but a magician's trick; and the magician thrives not, (no matter) where he goes."

Abul Ala Maududi

And throw down what is in your right hand; it will swallow up all that they have wrought. They have wrought only a magician's stratagem. A magician cannot come to any good, come whence he may."

Ahmed Ali

Throw down what is in your right hand: It will swallow up what they have conjured. For what they have fashioned is only a trick of the sorcerer; and a sorcerer does not succeed wherever he may come."

Ahmed Raza Khan

“And cast down which is in your right hand – it will devour all that they have fabricated; what they have made is only a magician’s deceit; and a magician is never successful, wherever he comes.”

Ali Quli Qarai

Throw down what is in your right hand, and it will swallow what they have conjured. What they have conjured is only a magician’s trick, and the magician does not fare well wherever he may show up.’

Ali Ünal

"Throw that which is in your right hand: it will swallow up all that they have contrived. What they have contrived is only a sorcerer’s artifice. And a sorcerer can never prosper whatever he may aim at."

Amatul Rahman Omar

`Now, cast down (on the ground) that (staff} which you have in your right hand. It will destroy all their artifices, for all they have wrought is nothing more than a device of a sorcerer, and the beguiler shall never succeed whichever way he may choose (to beguile).´

English Literal

And throw/throw away what (is) in your right (hand), it snatches/swallows quickly what they made/performed , truly they made/performed a magician`s/sorcerer`s plot/deceit/manipulation , and the magician/sorcerer does not succeed/win where/when he came/destroyed.218

Faridul Haque

"And cast down which is in your right hand - it will devour all that they have fabricated; what they have made is only a magician’s deceit; and a magician is never successful, wherever he comes."

Hamid S. Aziz

Said We, "Fear not! You shall have the upper hand.

Hilali & Khan

"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."

Maulana Mohammad Ali

We said: Fear not, surely thou are the uppermost.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And cast down what is in your right hand; it shall devour what they have wrought; they have wrought only the plan of a magician, and the magician shall not be successful wheresoever he may come from.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

Throw that which is in thy right hand! It will eat up that which they have made. Lo! that which they have made is but a wizard's artifice, and a wizard shall not be successful to whatever point (of skill) he may attain.

Muhammad Sarwar

Throw down what is in your right hand and it will swallow up all that they have performed; theirs is only a magical performance. Magicians can find no happiness in whatever they do."

Qaribullah & Darwish

Throw that which is in your right hand. It will swallow up that which they have made, for that which they made is but the guile of a sorcerer. Wherever he goes the sorcerer does not prosper'

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

"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."

Wahiduddin Khan

Throw down that [staff] which is in your right hand -- it shall swallow up what they have wrought, for what they have wrought is only a magician's trick. A magician shall never thrive, come whence he may.

Talal Itani

Now throw down what is in your right hand—it will swallow what they have crafted. What they have crafted is only a magician’s trickery. But the magician will not succeed, no matter what he does.”

Tafsir jalalayn

And cast that which is in your right hand -- and this was his staff. It shall swallow up that which they have produced. For what they have produced is only a sorcerer's trick, that is to say, a kind thereof, and the sorcerer does not succeed wherever he may go', in his sorcery. So Moses cast his staff and it swallowed up all of that which they [had] produced.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

وَأَلْقِ مَا فِي يَمِينِكَ تَلْقَفْ مَا صَنَعُوا

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.

Thus, Allah revealed to him at the right moment, to throw what was in his right hand, which was the stick. When he did so, it swallowed what they had made. It became a huge, monstrous creature with legs, a neck, a head and fangs. It went after these ropes and sticks until none of them remained, except that it was devoured and swallowed by this beast.

At the same time, the magicians and all of the people were watching with their own eyes, seeing this amazing event in broad daylight. Thus, the miracle was performed and the evidence was clear. The truth prevailed and the magic was proven to be falsehood.

This is why Allah said,

إِنَّمَا صَنَعُوا كَيْدُ سَاحِرٍ وَلَا يُفْلِحُ السَّاحِرُ حَيْثُ أَتَى




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.

So when the magicians saw the event and witnessed it with their own eyes, while they were knowledgeable of the various tricks and methods in the sciences of magic, they knew with conviction that what Musa had done was not magic or illusionary tricks. They recognized that it was the truth without any doubt. They knew that no one had any power to do this except for One Who says for a thing "Be," and it is. Therefore, when this happened, they fell down into prostration to Allah