۞ From the earth We have created you, and to it We shall return you, and from it We shall raise you again. 55 We showed the Pharaoh all of Our miracles, but he called them lies and turned away from them. 56 'Hast thou come, Moses,' he said, 'to expel us out of our land 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 He (Moses) replied: 'Your meeting shall be on the day of the feast, and let the people be assembled by midmorning' 59 So Pharaoh withdrew, devised his stratagem and returned. 60 and Moses said to them: 'Alas! Do not forge a lie against Allah lest He destroys you with a punishment. Indeed, whosoever forges has failed' 61 Then they [the magicians] conferred among themselves, whispering to one another. 62 saying, 'These two men are sorcerers and their purpose is to expel you out of your land by their sorcery, and to extirpate your justest way. 63 Wherefore devise your stratagem, and then come in a row; and prospered today is he who overcometh. 64 They said, "Moses, will you throw down first, or shall we be the first to throw down?" 65 He said, "Rather, you throw." And suddenly their ropes and staffs seemed to him from their magic that they were moving [like snakes]. 66 So Musa conceived in his mind a fear. 67 Allah said, "Fear not. Indeed, it is you who are superior. 68 Throw down what is in your right hand: It will swallow up what they have conjured. For what they have fashioned is only a trick of the sorcerer; and a sorcerer does not succeed wherever he may come." 69 Eventually the magicians were impelled to fall down prostrate and said: "We believe in the Lord of Moses and Aaron." 70 [Fir'aun (Pharaoh)] said: "Believe you in him [Musa (Moses)] before I give you permission? Verily! He is your chief who taught you magic. So I will surely cut off your hands and feet on opposite sides, and I will surely crucify you on the trunks of date-palms, and you shall surely know which of us [I (Fir'aun - Pharaoh) or the Lord of Musa (Moses) (Allah)] can give the severe and more lasting torment." 71 They said, 'We will not prefer thee over the clear signs that have come to us, nor over Him who originated us. Decide then what thou wilt decide; thou canst only decide touching this present life. 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 Lo! whoso cometh guilty unto his Lord, verily for him is hell. There he will neither die nor live. 74 But whoever comes to Him (Allah) as a believer (in the Oneness of Allah, etc.), and has done righteous good deeds, for such are the high ranks (in the Hereafter), 75 and shall live for ever in everlasting Gardens beneath which rivers flow. Such will be the reward of those who purify themselves. 76