۞ Thereof We created you, and thereunto We return you, and therefrom We shall bring you forth once again. 55 And We showed Pharaoh all Our Signs, but he did reject and refuse. 56 He [Fir'aun (Pharaoh)] said: "Have you come to drive us out of our land with your magic, O Musa (Moses)? 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 shall be the day of the feast, and let the people assemble when the sun hath risen high. 59 Then Firawn turned away, devised his stratagem; thereafter he came. 60 Musa said unto them: woe unto you! fabricate not against Allah a lie, lest he extirpate you with a torment, and surely He who fabricateth, loseth. 61 So they discussed their strategy among themselves and conferred privately, 62 They said: Lo! these are two wizards who would drive you out from your country by their magic, and destroy your best traditions; 63 Gather your guile and then lineup a rank those who gain the upper hand today shall indeed prosper' 64 They said: "Either you cast (your spell), O Moses, or we shall cast it first." 65 [Musa (Moses)] said: "Nay, throw you (first)!" Then behold, their ropes and their sticks, by their magic, appeared to him as though they moved fast. 66 and Moses conceived a fear within him. 67 We said: "Fear not! for thou hast indeed 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 The Pharaoh said, "Since you believed in him without my permission, then Moses certainly must be your chief who has taught you magic. I shall cut your hands and feet on alternate sides and crucify you on the trunk of the palm-tree. You shall certainly find which among us can afflict a more severe and lasting punishment". 71 The magicians answered: "By Him Who has created us, we shall never prefer you to the Truth after manifest Signs have come to us. So decree whatever you will. Your decree will pertain, at the most, to the present life of the 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 Surely for him who comes before his Lord a sinner shall be Hell, where 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 perpetual residence beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide eternally. And that is the reward of one who purifies himself. 76