۞ From the (earth) did We create you, and into it shall We return you, and from it shall We bring you out once again. 55 So We showed him (Pharaoh) Our signs, all of them, but he belied and refused them. 56 He said: Hast come to drive us out from our land by thy magic, O Moses? 57 "But we can surely produce magic to match thine! So make a tryst between us and thee, which we shall not fail to keep - neither we nor thou - in a place where both shall have even chances." 58 Answered [Moses]: "Your tryst shall be the day of the Festival; and let the people assemble when the sun is risen high." 59 So Pharaoh went away, put together his plan, and then came [to Moses]. 60 and Moses said to them: 'Alas! Do not forge a lie against Allah lest He destroys you with a punishment. Indeed, whosoever forges has failed' 61 They started arguing and whispering to each other 62 saying [to one another]: "These two are surely sorcerers intent on driving you from your land by their sorcery, and on doing away with your time-honoured way of life. 63 So gather your guile; then come in battle-line. Whoever today gains the upper hand shall surely prosper. 64 The magicians said: "Moses, will you throw down or shall we be the first to throw?" 65 He said, "Rather, you throw." And suddenly their ropes and staffs seemed to him from their magic that they were moving [like snakes]. 66 So Moses conceived in his mind a (sort of) fear. 67 We said unto him, 'Fear not; surely thou art the uppermost. 68 Throw down that [staff] which is in your right hand -- it shall swallow up what they have wrought, for what they have wrought is only a magician's trick. A magician shall never thrive, come whence he may. 69 And the sorcerers cast themselves down prostrating. 'We believe,' they said, 'in the Lord of Aaron and Moses.' 70 (Firon) said: You believe in him before I give you leave; most surely he is the chief of you who taught you enchantment, therefore I will certainly cut off your hands and your feet on opposite sides, and I will certainly crucify you on the trunks of the palm trees, and certainly you will come to know which of us is the more severe and the more abiding in chastising. 71 They said: We do not prefer you to what has come to us of clear arguments and to He Who made us, therefore decide what you are going to decide; you can only decide about this world's life. 72 We have faith in our Lord so that He will forgive our sins and our magical performances that you forced us to show. God is better than all things and His rewards last longer." 73 Surely for him who comes before his Lord a sinner shall be Hell, where he will neither die nor live. 74 But whoever comes to Him (Allah) as a believer (in the Oneness of Allah, etc.), and has done righteous good deeds, for such are the high ranks (in the Hereafter), 75 he will abide forever in the Gardens of eternity, through which rivers flow. That is the recompense for those who purify themselves. 76