2308 Nine Clear Signs; see
7:133, n. 1091. The story of Pharaoh (or a phase of it) is here told with a view to exhibiting the decline of a soul on account of pride in outward power and dignity. 2309 To them: i.e., to Pharaoh, as sitting in his Council, with the Chiefs of his People. Cf.
7:103. The whole scene is described in some detail from the point of view of nations or Ummahs in
7:103-133. 2310 At a different and later stage in the scene, Pharaoh's Chiefs call Moses a "sorcerer well-versed" (
7:109). Here Moses, who had come with Nine Signs but had not yet shown them, is reproached with being the object of sorcery: he is practically told that he is mad!