{"collection":"Texts of Islam","full_text_available":false,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/sacred_texts_v1_isl_pro_mos08_htm/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/sacred_texts_v1_isl_pro_mos08_htm","id":"sacred_texts_v1_isl_pro_mos08_htm","license":"unknown_pending_legal_review","rights_basis":"sacred_texts_v1_preview_gate_primary_text_only; acquisition-method/ToS and compilation-copyright questions still open, not resolved by this gate","source":"sacred_texts_v1","source_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/isl/pro/mos08.htm","summary":"This is an Islamic religious narrative and scriptural commentary \u2014 a tafsir-style retelling \u2014 drawing on Quranic verses and attributed traditions (hadith) from figures such as Al-S\u0101diq, Ibn-Abb\u0101s, and Ka'b Al-Ahb\u0101r to reconstruct Moses's return to Egypt and his confrontation with Pharaoh. The text recounts Moses reuniting with his family, appointing Aaron as co-prophet, and gaining entry to Pharaoh's court, where he demonstrated his divine signs (the staff-turned-serpent and the luminous hand) while delivering God's command to release the Israelites. A recurring interpretive argument runs through the piece: Moses's measured, gentle speech to Pharaoh was not weakness or irony but deliberate obedience to God's instruction (\"speak unto him a gentle word\"), aimed at leaving Pharaoh an opening to repent. The figure of Haman receives notable attention as the real obstructionist \u2014 portrayed as a cynical, irreligious political operator who repeatedly steered Pharaoh away from belief whenever he seemed close to it. The narrative culminates in an elaborate account of the contest with Pharaoh's assembled wizards (variously numbered in the thousands), whose ropes and staffs were devoured by Moses's staff-serpent, prompting the wizards' collective prostration and profession of faith. The text is distinctively maximalist in its folkloric detail \u2014 animated sticks that chase thieves, a serpent reaching above city walls \u2014 drawing on a broad range of classical Islamic storytelling traditions alongside the Quran.","tags":[],"text":null,"title":"The Prophets, Their Lives and Their Stories: Moses: Moses...","tradition":"Texts of Islam","translated_text":null,"word_count":3050}