۞ We created you from the earth and will revert you back to it; and raise you up from it a second time. 55 We showed Pharaoh all Our signs but he rejected them and refused to believe in them. 56 He said: art thou come unto us that thou mayest drive us out of our land by thy magic, O Musa! 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 (Moses) said: Your tryst shall be the day of the feast, and let the people assemble when the sun hath risen high. 59 So Fir'aun (Pharaoh) withdrew, devised his plot and then came back. 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 differed with one another in their task, and secretly conferred. 62 They said, "Certainly they are both magicians who want to drive you out of your land by their magic, and destroy your best traditions. 63 Gather your guile and then lineup a rank those who gain the upper hand today shall indeed prosper' 64 Said [the sorcerers]: "O Moses! Either thou throw [thy staff first,] or we shall be the first to throw." 65 He said: nay, cast ye down. And lo! their cords and their staves were made to appear to him by their magic as though they were running. 66 and Moses conceived a fear within him. 67 We (Allah) said: "Fear not! Surely, you will have the upper hand. 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 Eventually the magicians were impelled to fall down prostrate and said: "We believe in the Lord of Moses and Aaron." 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 (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 "For us, we have believed in our Lord: may He forgive us our faults, and the magic to which thou didst compel us: for Allah is Best and Most Abiding." 73 Whoever comes to his Lord (being) guilty, for him is surely hell; he shall not die therein, nor shall he live. 74 But for whosoever comes before Him as a believer and having done good works there awaits the most highest degree; 75 he will abide forever in the Gardens of eternity, through which rivers flow. That is the recompense for those who purify themselves. 76