۞ We created you from the earth and will revert you back to it; and raise you up from it a second time. 55 So We showed him (Pharaoh) Our signs, all of them, but he belied and refused them. 56 He said: art thou come unto us that thou mayest drive us out of our land by thy magic, O Musa! 57 So we too will produce before you magic like it, therefore make between us and you an appointment, which we should not break, (neither) we nor you, (in) a central place. 58 [Musa (Moses)] said: "Your appointed meeting is the day of the festival, and let the people assemble when the sun has risen (forenoon)." 59 After this the Pharaoh withdrew and settled his stratagem, then came back. 60 Moses said to them, "Woe to you! Do not invent lies against God, lest He destroy you by some calamity: whoever invents lies is bound to fail." 61 Then they [the magicians] conferred among themselves, whispering to one another. 62 They said: "Verily! These are two magicians. Their object is to drive you out from your land with magic, and overcome your chiefs and nobles. 63 So gather your guile; then come in battle-line. Whoever today gains the upper hand shall surely prosper. 64 They said, 'Moses, either thou wilt cast, or we shall be the first to cast.' 65 Moses replied: "No, let it be you to throw first." Then suddenly it appeared to Moses, owing to their magic, as if their ropes and staffs were running. 66 Then a kind of fear in his soul Musa felt. 67 We said unto him, 'Fear not; surely thou art the uppermost. 68 And throw down what is in your right hand; it will swallow up all that they have wrought. They have wrought only a magician's stratagem. A magician cannot come to any good, come whence he may." 69 So the magicians fell down in prostration. They said, "We have believed in the Lord of Aaron and Moses." 70 (The Pharaoh) said: "You have come to believe without my dispensation. Surely he is your chief who taught you magic. I will have your hands and feet cut off on alternate sides and crucify you on the trunks of date-palm trees. You will come to know whose punishment is harder and protracted." 71 They said, "Never shall we prefer you to all the evidence of the truth that has come to us. Nor to Him who has brought us into being. So decide whatever you will. Your jurisdiction only covers the life of this world -- 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 Verily he who comes to his Lord as a sinner (at Judgment),- for him is Hell: therein shall he neither die nor live. 74 And the one who presents himself as a believer before Him, having done good deeds – so for them are the high ranks. 75 Everlasting Gardens of Eden beneath which rivers flow, abiding in them for ever; and this is the reward of one who became pure. 76