Al-A'raf 7:115

<div class="arabic uthmani">إِمَّآ أَن تُلْقِىَ وَإِمَّآ أَن نَّكُونَ نَحْنُ الْمُلْقِينَ</div><p>(Either you throw (first), or shall we have the (first) throw) before you. In another Ayah, they said, </p><div class="arabic uthmani">وَإِمَّآ أَن نَّكُونَ أَوَّلَ مَنْ أَلْقَى</div><p>(Or we be the first to throw) 20:65. Musa said to them, you throw first. It was said that the wisdom behind asking them to throw first, is that - Allah knows best - the people might witness the magicians' sorcery first. When the magicians had cast their spell and captured the eyes, the clear and unequivocal truth came, at a time when they all anticipated and waited for it to come, thus making the truth even more impressive to their hearts. This is what happened. Allah said, </p><div class="arabic uthmani">فَلَمَّآ أَلْقُوْاْ سَحَرُواْ أَعْيُنَ النَّاسِ وَاسْتَرْهَبُوهُمْ</div><p>(So when they threw, they bewitched the eyes of the people, and struck terror into them,) meaning, they deceived the eyes and made them think that thet trick was real, when it was only an illusion, just as Allah said, </p><div class="arabic uthmani">فَأَوْجَسَ فِى نَفْسِهِ خِيفَةً مُّوسَى - قُلْنَا لاَ تَخَفْ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ الاٌّعْلَى - وَأَلْقِ مَا فِى يَمِينِكَ تَلْقَفْ مَا صَنَعُواْ إِنَّمَا صَنَعُواْ كَيْدُ سَاحِرٍ وَلاَ يُفْلِحُ السَّـحِرُ حَيْثُ أَتَى …

They said: O Moses! Either throw (first) or let us be the first throwers?

They said: "O Moses! wilt thou throw (first), or shall we have the (first) throw?"

They said: "O Musa (Moses)! Either you throw (first), or shall we have the (first) throw?"

They said, “O Moses! Either you throw, or we are the ones to throw.”