Q20:20 Egyptian Cobra

 Iblis & The Egyptian Cobra

وَإِذْ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلَائِكَةِ اسْجُدُوا لِآدَمَ فَسَجَدُوا إِلَّا إِبْلِيسَ أَبَىٰ

And when We said to the Angels, "Prostrate to Adam," then they prostrated, except Iblis; he refused.
[Al-Quran 20:116]

قَالَ لَا يَأْتِيكُمَا طَعَامٌ تُرْزَقَانِهِ إِلَّا نَبَّأْتُكُمَا بِتَأْوِيلِهِ قَبْلَ أَن يَأْتِيَكُمَا ۚ ذَ‌ٰلِكُمَا مِمَّا عَلَّمَنِي رَبِّي ۚ إِنِّي تَرَكْتُ مِلَّةَ قَوْمٍ لَّا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَهُم بِالْآخِرَةِ هُمْ كَافِرُونَ

وَاتَّبَعْتُ مِلَّةَ آبَائِي إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَإِسْحَاقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ ۚ مَا كَانَ لَنَا أَن نُّشْرِكَ بِاللَّهِ مِن شَيْءٍ ۚ ذَ‌ٰلِكَ مِن فَضْلِ اللَّهِ عَلَيْنَا وَعَلَى النَّاسِ وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَشْكُرُونَ

He said, "Not (will) come to both of you food you are provided with but I will inform both of you of its interpretation, before [that] [it] comes to both of you. That (is) of what has taught me my Lord. Indeed, I [I] abandon (the) religion (of) a people, not they believe in Allah, and they in the Hereafter [they] (are) disbelievers.
And I follow (the) religion (of) my forefathers, Ibrahim, and Ishaq and Yaqub. Not was for us that we associate with Allah any thing. That (is) from (the) Grace (of) Allah upon us, and upon the mankind but most (of) the men (are) not grateful.
[Al-Quran 12:37-38]

To Allah belongs everything and He knows everything. With that introduction, Surah Ta Ha Q20:9 starts relating the story of Moses. When Allah spoke with Moses, Allah ordered him to establish prayer for His Remembrance, as the Promised Hour is definitely going to occur, when every nafs will be recompensed! Moses was also warned against being averted from prayer by the one who doesn't believe and follows هَوَاهُ generally translated as 'his desires'.  

To show Moses a sign, Allah asked him to throw his stick which became a snake (حَيَّةٌ). Moses was then told not be afraid of it, but rather to pick it up, upon which it would revert to its former state. 

The Egyptian Cobra was a symbol of royalty, deity, sovereignty and divine authority in Ancient Egypt. The Egyptian Pharaohs wore the symbol on their head. The Egyptian Cobra is called Naja Haje. On the Wikipedia page about the Egyptian cobra (dated March 19, 2021), it states: 

Etymology and taxonomy

The Naja haje was first described by Swedish zoologist Carl Linnaeus in 1758. The generic name naja is a Latinisation of the Sanskrit word nāgá (नाग) meaning "cobra". The specific epithet haje is derived from the Arabic word ḥayya (حية) which literally means "snake".[4]

With the two miracles in Moses' hand: (the control over the Egyptian Cobra & the Healed Hand), Moses was commanded to go to The Pharaoh to demand the release of Allah's chosen people: the Bani Israel. 

The Bible, Genesis 3:1, explicitly declares that the beast in The Garden was a serpent.  While Q18:50 already informs us that Iblis is from the jinn (an ectotherm), and Q27:10 & Q28:31 state that Moses' stick became a jaan (snake), in Q20:20 it clearly specifies the species: (حَيَّةٌ), the very symbol the Pharaoh wore on his head! Iblis, the snake, had refused to prostrate to Adam, and the polytheistic Egyptians revered the very creature. 

Screenshot from https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Naja_haje/classification/

Faith in one Allah, and submission to His Commands, the monotheistic religion of Abraham, stands in sharp contrast to the polytheistic beliefs of the ancient Egyptians. 
Related post: The Serpent & The Snake: a Clear Sign 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The above is an excerpt from Q20 115-124 || Q12