۞ 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 him all Our signs, but he denied them and refused, 56 And said: "Have you come to us, O Moses, to drive us out of our land with your witchery? 57 We will indeed bring sorcery similar to yours. Appoint a meeting place between us and you, in a place which is agreeable to both which neither we nor you shall not fail (to keep)' 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 So Firaun went away and gathered his schemes,* then came. (* 72000 magicians and their materials.) 60 Moses told them, (the magicians) "Woe to you if you invent falsehood against God; you will be destroyed by the torment. Whoever invents falsehood against God will certainly be lost." 61 So they disputed, one with another, over their affair, but they kept their talk secret. 62 saying: 'These two are sorcerers whose aim is to drive you from your land by their sorcery and destroy your noble ways. 63 "So devise your plot, and then assemble in line. And whoever overcomes this day will be indeed successful." 64 They said, "Moses, would you be the first to show your skill or should we be the first to throw down our devices?" 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 And Moses conceived a fear in his mind. 67 We said to him: "Have no fear; for it is you who will prevail. 68 Throw down what is in your right hand and it will swallow up all that they have performed; theirs is only a magical performance. Magicians can find no happiness in whatever they do." 69 And the sorcerers cast themselves down prostrating. 'We believe,' they said, 'in the Lord of Aaron and Moses.' 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 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 We believe in our Lord so that He forgives us our sins and the sorcery you have forced us to practice. Allah is Better, and Everlasting' 73 Lo! whoso cometh guilty unto his Lord, verily for him is hell. There he will neither die nor live. 74 But for whosoever comes before Him as a believer and having done good works there awaits the most highest degree; 75 The gardens of perpetuity, beneath which rivers flow, to abide therein; and this is the reward of him who has purified himself. 76