۞ out of this [earth] have We created you, and into it shall We return you, and out of it shall We bring you forth once again. 55 AND, INDEED, We made Pharaoh aware of all Our messages - but he gave them the lie and refused [to heed them]. 56 Said he: Have you come to us that you should turn us out of our land by your magic, O Musa? 57 We shall confront you with a sorcery like your own. So appoint a day when both of us might meet face to face in an open space; an appointment which neither we nor you shall fail to keep." 58 Moses said: "Your tryst is the Day of the Festival, and let the people be assembled when the sun is well up." 59 So Fir'aun (Pharaoh) withdrew, devised his plot and then came back. 60 Said Moses to them: "Woe unto you! Do not invent lies against God, lest He afflict you with most grievous suffering: for He who contrives [such] a lie is already undone!" 61 So they discussed their strategy among themselves and conferred privately, 62 and said, "These two people are magicians. They want to expel you from your land through their magic and to destroy your own tradition. 63 "Therefore concert your plan, and then assemble in (serried) ranks: He wins (all along) today who gains the upper hand." 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 'No,' said Moses. 'Do you cast!' And lo, it seemed to him, by their sorcery, their ropes and their staffs were sliding; 66 And he sensed within himself apprehension, did Moses. 67 But We said to him: 'Do not be afraid; you shall surely be the uppermost. 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 So the magicians fell down in prostration. They said, "We have believed in the Lord of Aaron and Moses." 70 Said [Pharaoh]: "Have you come to believe in him ere I have given you permission? Verily, he must be your master who has taught you magic! But I shall most certainly cut off your hands and feet in great numbers, because of [your] perverseness, and I shall most certainly crucify you in great numbers on trunks of palm-trees: and [I shall do this] so that you might come to know for certain as to which of us [two] can inflict a more severe chastisement, and [which] is the more abiding!" 71 They said: "Never shall we regard thee as more than the Clear Signs that have come to us, or than Him Who created us! so decree whatever thou desirest to decree: for thou canst only decree (touching) the life of this world. 72 Surely we believe in our Lord that He may forgive us our sins and the magic to which you compelled us; and Allah is better and more abiding. 73 Whosoever comes unto his Lord a sinner, for him awaits Gehenna wherein he shall neither die nor live. 74 But whoever comes to Him as a believer having done righteous deeds - for those will be the highest degrees [in position]: 75 Everlasting Gardens of Eden beneath which rivers flow, abiding in them for ever; and this is the reward of one who became pure. 76