Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “To Pharaoh, Haman, and Qarun, so they said, ‘A sorcerer and a liar.’”

We begin now. He said: is connected to “We sent.” Pharaoh was the ruler of Egypt who ruled it and was given authority over the Children of Israel, so he used to kill their sons and keep their women alive. It was said that he did this because some of the diviners told him that there would be a man among the Children of Israel through whom your rule would be removed. This is one opinion.
Another opinion is that he did it to humiliate and insult them, because if he killed the men and left the women, the nation would perish. This opinion is stronger, because the first opinion relies on reports from the Children of Israel, and it is known that reports from the Children of Israel are neither confirmed nor denied. The reasonable meaning of his slaughtering their sons and keeping their women alive is the humiliation of this people, who were a minority compared to the Copts.
Haman was the minister of Pharaoh, and Qarun was the merchant of the family of Pharaoh, because Qarun was wealthy with immense wealth, until Allah the Exalted said: meaning of gold and silver “tanu’” means to be burdened by them, meaning the group of strong people would be burdened by them. These are their keys, so the treasuries are numerous and immense.
The pronoun refers to the three: Pharaoh, Haman, and Qarun. “Sorcerer” is the predicate of a deleted subject, which the exegete supplied by saying: “He is a sorcerer and a liar”. “Sorcerer” is the active participle of sorcery, referring to one who bewitches people and shows them realities as other than what they are. He is not one who changes realities, for only Allah, Mighty and Majestic, changes realities. But he shows people realities as other than what they are, like what the sorcerers of the family of Pharaoh did when they threw down ropes and staffs, and people saw them as if they were moving snakes, though they were not. These people said that Moses is a sorcerer: how does he throw his staff and it becomes a snake? How does he put in his hand and it comes out white without any defect? This is nothing but sorcery.
“Liar” means a liar in what he claimed of the message. So in his signs he is a sorcerer, and in his claim he is a liar. Then he said “liar,” which is a form of exaggeration or attribution. The difference between the form of exaggeration and attribution is that attribution is a permanent description, while the form of exaggeration is a repeated, occurring action. Do you understand? The word “carpenter” is an attribution, and it can be a form of exaggeration due to the frequency of his carpentry. But if it is said that so-and-so is a “glutton” for food, this may not be an attribution, but rather a description due to the frequency of his eating.