﴿ قَالُوا۟ لَن نُّؤْثِرَكَ عَلَىٰ مَا جَآءَنَا مِنَ ٱلْبَيِّنَٰتِ وَٱلَّذِى فَطَرَنَا ۖ فَٱقْضِ مَآ أَنتَ قَاضٍ ۖ إِنَّمَا تَقْضِى هَٰذِهِ ٱلْحَيَوٰةَ ٱلدُّنْيَآ ﴾

“They answered: "Never shall we prefer thee to all the evidence of the truth that has come unto us, nor to Him who has brought us into being! Decree, then, whatever thou art going to decree: thou canst decree only [something that pertains to] this worldly life!”

The magicians, on the one hand, were confronted by the cogent reasoning of Moses, and on the other, the towering personality of Pharaoh. The magicians preferred convincing arguments to authoritarianism, although they knew very well how dearly they would pay for their choice. The magicians’ faith was not of the hereditary or formal, ritual kind: it amounted to a ‘discovery’ for them. And faith received as a discovery is so powerful that under its influence everything else appears worthless—be it a great personality or some other worldly consideration.