۞ Thereof We created you, and thereunto We return you, and thence We bring you forth a second time. 55 Indeed We showed Pharaoh Our Signs, all of them, but he declared them to be false and rejected them. 56 Said he: Have you come to us that you should turn us out of our land by your magic, O Musa? 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 (Moses) said: Your tryst shall be the day of the feast, and let the people assemble when the sun hath risen high. 59 Thereupon Pharaoh withdrew [with his counsellors] and decided upon the scheme which he would pursue; and then he came [to the tryst]. 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 debated among themselves as to what to do; but they kept their counsel secret, 62 They said: "These two are certainly (expert) magicians: their object is to drive you out from your land with their magic, and to do away with your most cherished institutions. 63 So gather your guile; then come in battle-line. Whoever today gains the upper hand shall surely prosper. 64 They said: either thou cast down, or we shall be the first to cast down. 65 Moses said, "You throw first." When they did, their ropes and staffs through their magic seemed to be moving. 66 And Moses felt afraid within himself. 67 We said: Fear not, surely you shall be the uppermost, 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 The magicians bowed down in prostration saying, "We believe in the Lord of Moses and Aaron". 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 choose thee not above the clear proofs that have come unto us, and above Him Who created us. So decree what thou wilt decree. Thou wilt end for us only this life of the world. 72 As for us, behold, we have come to believe in our Sustainer, [hoping] that He may forgive us our faults and all that magic unto which thou hast forced us: for God is the best [to look forward to,] and the One who is truly abiding." 73 Verily he who comes to his Lord as a sinner (at Judgment),- for him is Hell: therein shall he neither die nor live. 74 But such as come to Him as Believers who have worked righteous deeds,- for them are ranks exalted,- 75 will be rewarded by high status in the gardens of Eden wherein streams flow. Such will be the reward of those who purify themselves. 76