۞ From the earth We have created you, and to it We shall return you, and from it We shall raise you again. 55 And indeed We showed him [Fir'aun (Pharaoh)] all Our Signs and Evidences, but he denied and refused. 56 He said, "Have you come to us to turn us out of our land by means of your magic, Moses? 57 But we surely can produce for thee magic the like thereof; so appoint a tryst between us and you, which neither we nor thou shall fail to keep, at a place convenient (to us both). 58 Moses said, "The day of the encounter will be the day of the festival, and let the people assemble when the sun has risen high." 59 Then Firawn turned away, devised his stratagem; thereafter he came. 60 (At the time of the encounter) Moses said to them: "Woe to you! Do not invent falsehoods against Allah lest He destroy you with a scourge. Surely those who invent lies shall come to grief." 61 So they differed with one another in their task, and secretly conferred. 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 muster all your stratagem and come forth in a row. Whoever prevails today shall triumph." 64 They said:"O Musa (Moses)! Either you throw first or we be the first to throw?" 65 He said: Nay, do ye throw! Then lo! their cords and their staves, by their magic, appeared to him as though they ran. 66 And Moses felt afraid within himself. 67 We said: fear not! verily thou! thou shalt be the superior. 68 Cast down what is in thy right hand, and it shall swallow what they have fashioned; for they have fashioned only the guile of a sorcerer, and the sorcerer prospers not; wherever he goes.' 69 And the magicians were cast down making obeisance; they said: We believe in the Lord of Haroun and Musa. 70 Said [Pharaoh]: "Have you come to believe in him ere I have given you permission? Verily, he must be your master who has taught you magic! But I shall most certainly cut off your hands and feet in great numbers, because of [your] perverseness, and I shall most certainly crucify you in great numbers on trunks of palm-trees: and [I shall do this] so that you might come to know for certain as to which of us [two] can inflict a more severe chastisement, and [which] is the more abiding!" 71 They answered: "Never shall we prefer thee to all the evidence of the truth that has come unto us, nor to Him who has brought us into being! Decree, then, whatever thou art going to decree: thou canst decree only [something that pertains to] this worldly life! 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 VERILY, as for him who shall appear before his Sustainer [on Judgment Day] lost in sin - his [portion,] behold, shall be hell: he will neither die therein nor live; 74 But he who comes to Him with faith and righteous works shall be exalted to high ranks, 75 living for ever in the Gardens of Eden, underneath which rivers flow. Such shall be the recompense of he who purifies himself. 76