۞ 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 Pharaoh all Our signs, but he cried lies, and refused. 56 He [Fir'aun (Pharaoh)] said: "Have you come to drive us out of our land with your magic, O Musa (Moses)? 57 So We shall surely bring unto thee a magic the like thereof; so Make between us and thee an appointment which neither we nor thou shall fail in some open space. 58 Answered [Moses]: "Your tryst shall be the day of the Festival; and let the people assemble when the sun is risen high." 59 So Pharaoh withdrew, devised his stratagem and returned. 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 So they disputed, one with another, over their affair, but they kept their talk secret. 62 They said, "Indeed, these are two magicians who want to drive you out of your land with their magic and do away with your most exemplary way. 63 So muster all your stratagem and come forth in a row. Whoever prevails today shall triumph." 64 They said: O Musa! will you cast, or shall we be the first who cast down? 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 So Musa conceived in his mind a fear. 67 but We said, "Do not be afraid. It is you who shall prevail." 68 "And throw that which is in your right hand! It will swallow up that which they have made. That which they have made is only a magician's trick, and the magician will never be successful, no matter whatever amount (of skill) he may attain." 69 So the magicians fell down prostrate. They said: "We believe in the Lord of Harun (Aaron) and Musa (Moses)." 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 said: We do not prefer you to what has come to us of clear arguments and to He Who made us, therefore decide what you are going to decide; you can only decide about this world's 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 Lo! whoso cometh guilty unto his Lord, verily for him is hell. There 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 he will abide forever in the Gardens of eternity, through which rivers flow. That is the recompense for those who purify themselves. 76