۞ Thereof We created you, and thereunto We return you, and therefrom We shall bring you forth once again. 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 shall certainly meet you with like magic. So make an appointment when we and you could meet on common ground, which neither we nor you should fail to keep." 58 (Musa) said: Your appointment is the day of the Festival and let the people be gathered together in the early forenoon. 59 Pharaoh then withdrew, and gathered his guile. Thereafter he came again, 60 Moses said unto them: Woe unto you! Invent not a lie against Allah, lest He extirpate you by some punishment. He who lieth faileth miserably. 61 Then they debated with one another what they must do, and they kept their talk secret. 62 They said, "Certainly they are both magicians who want to drive you out of your land by their magic, and destroy your best traditions. 63 So prepare your strategy and come forward. He alone shall win today who is superior." 64 They said, "O Moses, either you throw or we will be the first to throw." 65 He answered: "Nay, you throw [first]." And lo! by virtue of their sorcery, their [magic] ropes and staffs seemed to him to be moving rapidly: 66 And Moses conceived a fear in his mind. 67 We (Allah) said: "Fear not! Surely, you will have the upper hand. 68 Throw down that [staff] which is in your right hand -- it shall swallow up what they have wrought, for what they have wrought is only a magician's trick. A magician shall never thrive, come whence he may. 69 Thereafter the sorcerers threw themselves down, prostrating, saying: 'We believe in the Lord of Aaron and Moses' 70 'Have you believed him before I have given you permission' he (Pharaoh) said. 'Indeed, he (must be) your chief, the one who taught you sorcery. I will cut off on opposite sides a hand and a foot then crucify you on the trunks of palmtrees. Indeed, you shall know whose punishment is more stern, and more lasting' 71 They said: "We prefer you not over the clear signs that have come to us, and to Him (Allah) Who created us. So decree whatever you desire to decree, for you can only decree (regarding) this life of the world. 72 “Indeed we have accepted faith in our Lord, so that He may forgive us our sins and the magic which you forced us to perform; and Allah is Better, and the Most Lasting.” 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 Gardens Everlasting whereunder rivers flow: abiders therein; that is the meed of him who hath purified himself. 76