The Holy Qor-aan 007:108
فَاَلۡقٰى عَصَاهُ فَاِذَا هِىَ ثُعۡبَانٌ مُّبِيۡنٌ ۖ ۚ
Fa aul-qaa aa-saa-aa ho fa aiy-zaa ha-ya thoe-baa-noon mo-bee-n
So he placed his stick. Then look! It’s a snake, very clearly.
- فَ — Fa — So (= After all this; as a result; at the end; consequently; hence; in conclusion; resultantly; so; then; thereafter; therefore; thus; yet. A/t/a, ‘so,’ ‘Then’ and ‘thereupon’)
- اَ لۡقٰٓى — Aul-qaa — He placed (= v., past., s., m., 3rd person. Cast; hurled; lowered; placed; presented; put down. A/t/a, ‘he threw,’ ‘(Moses) threw,’ ‘[Musa (Moses)] threw,’ ‘Moses threw down,’ ‘Moses put down,’ ‘flung down’ and ‘he (- Moses) flung down’)
- عَصَا — Aa-saa — Stick (= n., Dang. Rod. Staff. Stick. A/t/a, ‘rod’ and ‘staff’)
- هُ — Ho — His (= pro., s., m., 3rd person. Refers to the Prophet Moses)
Text in the next three (3) words is in both verses 007:108 and 007:109
- فَ — Fa — Then (= After all this. See فَ above. A/t/a, ‘and’ and ‘thereupon’)
- اِذَا — Aiy-zaa — Look (= Behold; call to mind; consider; now that; ponder over; recall; reflect, remember; think of. A/t/a, ‘lo!,’ ‘Behold,’ ‘suddenly’ and ‘changed into’)
- هِىَ — Hay-ya — It (= pro., s., f., 3rd person. She. A/t/a, ‘it,’ ‘it was’ and ‘it became’)
- ثُعۡبَانٌ — Tho-baa-noon — Big snake (= n., Big snake. Serpent. See Note 007:108 below)
- مُّبِيۡنٍ — Mo-bee-n — Very clearly (= adj., Clear, manifest; obvious; open. See Note 004:021. A/t/a, ‘plain (for all to see),’ ‘plainly visible,’ ‘as a visible,’ ‘manifest’ and ‘a veritable’)
** Note 007:108: Author Malik Ghulam Farid in Note 1023 called it “significant” when he distinguished three different words that the Holy Qor-aan has used to describe the snake in which the rod, staff or stick of Moses appeared when it was placed in front of Pharoah.
The significance was the agility, bulk and length of the snake described by words ثُعۡبَانٌ [thoe-baa-noon] in 007:108 and 026:033, حَيَّةٌ [hauy-ya-taun] in 020:021, and جَآنٌّ [jaan-na] in 027:011 and 028:032).
A snake is a snake, no matter how it appears or is described. The spiritual supremacy of the Prophet Moses was intended and established when onlookers saw the physical or ordinary stick turned into a snake.
The academic difference whether the stick turned into a snake or looked that way to the onlookers is not to be settled at this site. What is important is that the episode did occur. It was miraculous. It was a success story.
