۞ Thereof (the earth) We created you, and into it We shall return you, and from it We shall bring you out once again. 55 So We showed him all Our signs, but he denied them and refused, 56 He said: "Hast thou come to drive us out of our land with 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 He (Moses) replied: 'Your meeting shall be on the day of the feast, and let the people be assembled by midmorning' 59 So Fir'aun (Pharaoh) withdrew, devised his plot and then came back. 60 Moses said to the magicians summoned by Pharaoh, "Woe to you! Do not invent a lie against Allah or He will exterminate you with a punishment; and he has failed who invents [such falsehood]." 61 Thereupon they wrangled among themselves about the matter and conferred in secret. 62 They said: These are most surely two magicians who wish to turn you out from your land by their magic and to take away your best traditions. 63 Therefore settle your plan, then come standing in ranks and he will prosper indeed this day who overcomes. 64 They said: O Moses! Either throw first, or let us be the first to throw? 65 He said, “Rather, you may throw”; thereupon their cords and their staves, by the strength of their magic, appeared to him as if they were (serpents) moving fast. 66 So Moses conceived in his mind a (sort of) fear. 67 We told him, "Do not be afraid for you will be the winner. 68 And cast down what is in your right hand; it shall devour what they have wrought; they have wrought only the plan of a magician, and the magician shall not be successful wheresoever he may come from. 69 [And so it happened and down fell the sorcerers, prostrating themselves in adoration, [and] exclaimed: "We have come to believe in the Sustainer of Moses and Aaron!" 70 [Pharaoh] said, "You believed him before I gave you permission. Indeed, he is your leader who has taught you magic. So I will surely cut off your hands and your feet on opposite sides, and I will crucify you on the trunks of palm trees, and you will surely know which of us is more severe in [giving] punishment and more enduring." 71 They (the magicians) said, "We would never prefer you to the miracles that we have seen or to our Creator. Do what you want. This life is only for a short time. 72 We have certainly come to believe in our Lord that He may forgive our trespasses and the magic you have forced us to perform, for God is nobler and abiding." 73 The dwelling place of one who comes into the presence of his Lord as a criminal will be hell wherein he will never die nor enjoy his life. 74 But whoso cometh unto Him a believer, having done good works, for such are the high stations; 75 gardens of perpetual bliss, through which running waters flow, therein to abide: for that shall be the recompense of all who attain to purity. 76