۞ Thereof We created you, and thereunto We return you, and therefrom We shall bring you forth once again. 55 AND, INDEED, We made Pharaoh aware of all Our messages - but he gave them the lie and refused [to heed them]. 56 He said, "Have you come to us to turn us out of our land by means of your magic, Moses? 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 Moses said: "The appointment to meet you is on the Day of the Feast and let all people come together before noon." 59 So Pharaoh withdrew and gathered his guile, then returned, 60 and Moses said to them, 'O beware! Forge not a lie against God, lest He destroy you with a chastisement. Whoso forges has ever failed.' 61 So they debated among themselves as to what to do; but they kept their counsel secret, 62 (And) said: "These two are surely magicians. They want to deprive you of your land with their magic, and eradicate your distinct way (of life). 63 So muster all your stratagem and come forth in a row. Whoever prevails today shall triumph." 64 They said: "O Moses! whether wilt thou that thou throw (first) or that we be the first to throw?" 65 He said: Nay! cast down. then lo! their cords and their rods-- it was imaged to him on account of their magic as if they were running. 66 Moses became fearful within himself. 67 [But] We said: "Fear not! Verily, it is thou who shalt prevail! 68 And [now] throw that [staff] which is in thy right hand - it shall swallow up all that they have wrought: [for] they have wrought only a sorcerer's artifice, and the sorcerer can never come to any good, whatever he may aim at!" 69 Eventually the magicians were impelled to fall down prostrate and said: "We believe in the Lord of Moses and Aaron." 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 Their reply was: 'We will not prefer you over the clear signs that have come to us, nor over Him who has created us. So decide upon whatever you decide, you can only decide upon things in this present life. 72 Verily we! we have believed in our Lord, that he may forgive us our faults, and that to which thou hast constrained us in the way of magic; and Allah is Best and Most Lasting. 73 Surely for him who comes before his Lord a sinner shall be Hell, where he will neither die nor live. 74 whereas he who shall appear before Him as a believer who has done righteous deeds - it is such that shall have lofty stations [in the life to come]: 75 will be rewarded by high status in the gardens of Eden wherein streams flow. Such will be the reward of those who purify themselves. 76