Quran Universe
7:116

قَالَ أَلۡقُواْۖ فَلَمَّآ أَلۡقَوۡاْ سَحَرُوٓاْ أَعۡيُنَ ٱلنَّاسِ وَٱسۡتَرۡهَبُوهُمۡ وَجَآءُو بِسِحۡرٍ عَظِيمٖ

Qala alqoo falamma alqaw saharoo aAAyuna alnnasi waistarhaboohum wajaoo bisihrin AAatheemin

He said, "Throw," and when they threw, they bewitched the eyes of the people and struck terror into them, and they presented a great [feat of] magic.

Word by word
  1. قَالَHe said
  2. أَلۡقُواْۖThrow
  3. فَلَمَّآThen when
  4. أَلۡقَوۡاْthey threw
  5. سَحَرُوٓاْthey bewitched
  6. أَعۡيُنَ(the) eyes
  7. ٱلنَّاسِ(of) the people
  8. وَٱسۡتَرۡهَبُوهُمۡand terrified them
  9. وَجَآءُوand came (up)
  10. بِسِحۡرٍwith a magic
  11. عَظِيمٖgreat
Al-A'raf · 7:116Makkah

They fooled the eyes, but the ropes were still ropes.

A great show that was only an illusion

What the crowd saw
ropes and sticksthick and long
made to look
crawling snakeseyes bewitchedpeople terrified
Seen versus real
it looks aliveso it must be
it is an illusionropes never moved

Musa told them to throw first. Ibn Kathir gives the wisdom: the people would see the sorcery first, so the truth would land harder when it came. Ibn 'Abbas said they threw ropes and sticks that appeared to crawl, an illusion that struck terror into the crowd.

A feed full of perfect homes, perfect bodies, perfect marriages. Filters, angles, edits. You close the app feeling behind on everything. The ropes look like snakes. Your eyes were played, but your life did not change.

What I see on the screen is how things really are.

A great show can bewitch my eyes without being real.

Try this

Next time a post makes you feel less, say to yourself: rope, not snake. Then put the phone down.

Related20:67
Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (shared passage from 7:115)

They said: "O Musa! Either you throw (first), or shall we have the (first) throw? (115)He [Musa] said: "Throw you (first)." So when they threw, they bewitched the eyes of the people, and struck terror into them, and they displayed a great trick (116)

The magicians challenged Musa, when they said,

إِمَّا أَن تُلْقِيَ وَإِمَّا أَن نَّكُونَ نَحْنُ الْمُلْقِينَ

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

وَإِمَّا أَن نَّكُونَ أَوَّلَ مَنْ أَلْقَىٰ

(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,

فَلَمَّا أَلْقَوْا سَحَرُوا أَعْيُنَ النَّاسِ وَاسْتَرْهَبُوهُمْ 

(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,

فَأَوْجَسَ فِي نَفْسِهِ خِيفَةً مُّوسَىٰ - قُلْنَا لَا تَخَفْ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ الْأَعْلَىٰ - وَأَلْقِ مَا فِي يَمِينِكَ تَلْقَفْ مَا صَنَعُوا إِنَّمَا صَنَعُوا كَيْدُ سَاحِرٍ وَلَا يُفْلِحُ السَّاحِرُ حَيْثُ أَتَىٰ

(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."