Moses said, "O Pharaoh, I am a messenger from the Lord of the universe.

Moses was the messenger God sent to Pharaoh and his elders, to call them to the Lord of the universe and to demand that they free the Children of Israel (7:103-105, 20:47). He is the messenger to whom God spoke directly (4:164). God gave him the scripture and the Statute Book "that you may be guided" (2:53, 28:43), and appointed his brother Aaron as his assistant (25:35).
He was born while Pharaoh was slaughtering the sons of a persecuted people. God inspired his mother to nurse him and, when she feared for him, to put him in the river. Pharaoh's own family picked him up, and Pharaoh's wife asked them not to kill him. Because the infant would not accept any other nursing mother, his sister was able to bring him back to his own mother (28:4-13). As a grown man, he stepped into a fight between a Hebrew and an Egyptian and killed the Egyptian with a punch. He asked God's forgiveness and was forgiven. When he was warned that people were plotting to kill him, he fled to Midyan. There he watered the flocks of two women, worked for their father, and married one of the daughters (28:15-28). On the way back toward Egypt with his family, he saw a fire on Mount Sinai. At the burning bush God called to him, gave him the staff and the white hand as proofs, and, at his request, sent Aaron with him (28:29-35).
Pharaoh dismissed the signs as magic and summoned his best magicians. Moses' staff swallowed what they had produced, and the magicians fell prostrate, believing in "the Lord of Moses and Aaron." They held firm even when Pharaoh threatened to crucify them (7:106-126). Then came drought, flood, locusts, lice, frogs and blood. Each time a plague hit, Pharaoh's people promised to believe, and each time it was lifted, they broke the promise (7:130-135). At last Moses led the Israelites out. When Pharaoh's army caught up with them at the sea, Moses said, "My Lord is with me; He will guide me." God told him to strike the sea with his staff, the sea parted, the believers crossed, and the pursuers drowned (26:61-66). As he drowned, Pharaoh declared his belief, but he was told it was "Too late!" God preserved his body as a lesson for later generations (10:90-92). Dr. Khalifa notes in his footnote that Pharaoh's mummified body is on display at the Cairo Museum.
After the crossing, God summoned Moses for forty nights. During that meeting Moses asked to see God. God revealed Himself to a mountain instead, the mountain crumbled, and Moses fell unconscious. He then received the tablets of teachings (7:142-145). While he was away, the Samarian led the people to worship a golden calf that made a calf's sound. Moses came back angry, confronted Aaron, banished the Samarian, and burned the idol (7:148-150, 20:85-97). Later his people refused to enter the holy land out of fear of its powerful inhabitants. They told him to go fight with his Lord while they sat where they were, so the land was forbidden to them for forty years of wandering (5:20-26). The Quran also tells of Moses seeking out a servant of God who had been given knowledge from God, so that he could learn from him (18:60-66).
The Quran draws several lessons from his story. God compensates the oppressed and makes them inheritors, and He gives tyrants "a taste of their own medicine" (28:5-6). His promise can be trusted even when obeying it looks frightening, as it did for a mother putting her baby in a river (28:7, 28:13). Belief must come before it is too late (10:90-91). The Israelites had seen miracle after miracle and still asked for idols (7:138), which shows that miracles alone do not make people believe. Above all, the story keeps returning to its central point: "Your only god is GOD; the One beside whom there is no other god" (20:98).
Verses
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Moses said, "O Pharaoh, I am a messenger from the Lord of the universe.
"It is incumbent upon me that I do not say about GOD except the truth. I come to you with a sign from your Lord; let the Children of Israel go."
He said, "If you have a sign, then produce it, if you are truthful."
He threw down his staff, and it turned into a tremendous serpent.
He took out his hand, and it was white to the beholders.
The leaders among Pharaoh's people said, "This is no more than a clever magician.
"He wants to take you out of your land; what do you recommend?"
They said, "Respite him and his brother, and send summoners to every city.
"Let them summon every experienced magician."
The magicians came to Pharaoh and said, "Do we get paid if we are the winners?"
He said, "Yes indeed; you will even become close to me."
They said, "O Moses, either you throw, or we are throwing."
He said, "You throw." When they threw, they tricked the people's eyes, intimidated them, and produced a great magic.
We then inspired Moses: "Throw down your staff," whereupon it swallowed whatever they fabricated.
Thus, the truth prevailed, and what they did was nullified.
They were defeated then and there; they were humiliated.
The magicians fell prostrate.
They said, "We believe in the Lord of the universe.
"The Lord of Moses and Aaron."
Pharaoh said, "Did you believe in him without my permission? This must be a conspiracy you schemed in the city, in order to take its people away. You will surely find out.
"I will cut your hands and feet on alternate sides, then I will crucify you all."
They said, "We will then return to our Lord.
"You persecute us simply because we believed in the proofs of our Lord when they came to us." "Our Lord, grant us steadfastness, and let us die as submitters."
The leaders among Pharaoh's people said, "Will you allow Moses and his people to corrupt the earth, and forsake you and your gods?" He said, "We will kill their sons, and spare their daughters. We are much more powerful than they are."
Moses said to his people, "Seek GOD's help, and steadfastly persevere. The earth belongs to GOD, and He grants it to whomever He chooses from among His servants. The ultimate victory belongs to the righteous."
They said, "We were persecuted before you came to us, and after you came to us." He said, "Your Lord will annihilate your enemy and establish you on earth, then He will see how you behave."
We then afflicted Pharaoh's people with drought, and shortage of crops, that they may take heed.
When good omens came their way, they said, "We have deserved this," but when a hardship afflicted them, they blamed Moses and those with him. In fact, their omens are decided only by GOD, but most of them do not know.
They said, "No matter what kind of sign you show us, to dupe us with your magic, we will not believe."
Consequently, we sent upon them the flood, the locusts, the lice, the frogs, and the blood—profound signs. But they maintained their arrogance. They were evil people.
Whenever a plague afflicted them, they said, "O Moses, implore your Lord—you are close to Him. If you relieve this plague, we will believe with you, and will send the Children of Israel with you."
Yet, when we relieved the plague for any length of time, they violated their pledge.
Consequently, we avenged their actions, and drowned them in the sea. That is because they rejected our signs, and were totally heedless thereof.
We let the oppressed people inherit the land, east and west, and we blessed it. The blessed commands of your Lord were thus fulfilled for the Children of Israel, to reward them for their steadfastness, and we annihilated the works of Pharaoh and his people and everything they harvested.
We delivered the Children of Israel across the sea. When they passed by people who were worshiping statues, they said, "O Moses, make a god for us, like the gods they have." He said, "Indeed, you are ignorant people.
"These people are committing a blasphemy, for what they are doing is disastrous for them.