۞ From the earth We created you, and into it We will return you, and from it We will extract you another time. 55 So We showed him (Pharaoh) Our signs, all of them, but he belied and refused them. 56 He said: Hast come to drive us out from our land by thy magic, O Moses? 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, "Your appointment is on the day of the festival when the people assemble at mid-morning." 59 After this the Pharaoh withdrew and settled his stratagem, then came back. 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 And they disputed upon their plan between them, and communed secretly 62 They said: verily these two are magicians, intending to drive you forth from your land by their magic and to do away with your superior way. 63 So gather your guile; then come in battle-line. Whoever today gains the upper hand shall surely prosper. 64 They said, “O Moosa, either you throw first – or shall we throw first?” 65 'No,' said Moses. 'Do you cast!' And lo, it seemed to him, by their sorcery, their ropes and their staffs were sliding; 66 So Moses' heart was filled with fear. 67 We said to him: "Have no fear; for it is you who will prevail. 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 So the magicians fell down prostrate. They said: "We believe in the Lord of Harun (Aaron) and Musa (Moses)." 70 (Pharaoh) said: Ye put faith in him before I give you leave. Lo! he is your chief who taught you magic. Now surely I shall cut off your hands and your feet alternately, and I shall crucify you on the trunks of palm trees, and ye shall know for certain which of us hath sterner and more lasting punishment. 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 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 Verily! Whoever comes to his Lord as a Mujrim (criminal, polytheist, disbeliever in the Oneness of Allah and His Messengers, sinner, etc.), then surely, for him is Hell, therein he will neither die nor live. 74 But he who comes to Him as a believer, having done good deeds, shall be exalted to the highest ranks, 75 Gardens of Eden, underneath which rivers flow, therein dwelling forever; that is the recompense of the self-purified. 76