﴿ فَتَوَلَّىٰ فِرْعَوْنُ فَجَمَعَ كَيْدَهُۥ ثُمَّ أَتَىٰ ﴾

“Thereupon Pharaoh withdrew [with his counsellors] and decided upon the scheme which he would pursue; and then he came [to the tryst].”

Commentary The words فَجَمَعَ كَيْدَهُ (and put his plot together) in verse 60 indicate that the Pharaoh assembled his magicians and their tools. According to Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ there were seventy two magicians but others have put their number at figures which vary from four hundred to nine hundred thousand. Their leader was a blind man whose name was Sham` un (شمعُون).