۞ From this very earth We created you and to the same earth We shall cause you to return, and from it We shall bring you forth to life again. 55 AND, INDEED, We made Pharaoh aware of all Our messages - but he gave them the lie and refused [to heed them]. 56 He said: "Have you come to us to drive us out of our land by your sorcery? 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 He (Moses) replied: 'Your meeting shall be on the day of the feast, and let the people be assembled by midmorning' 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 And they disputed upon their plan between them, and communed secretly 62 saying [to one another]: "These two are surely sorcerers intent on driving you from your land by their sorcery, and on doing away with your time-honoured way of life. 63 Therefore, decide upon your plan and then come forward in ranks. Whoever gains the upper hand today shall surely triumph." 64 They said: "O Moses! whether wilt thou that thou throw (first) or that we be the first to throw?" 65 He said, “Rather, you may throw”; thereupon their cords and their staves, by the strength of their magic, appeared to him as if they were (serpents) moving fast. 66 And Moses felt afraid within himself. 67 We told him, "Do not be afraid for you will be the winner. 68 Throw that which is in thy right hand! It will eat up that which they have made. Lo! that which they have made is but a wizard's artifice, and a wizard shall not be successful to whatever point (of skill) he may attain. 69 The magicians bowed down in prostration saying, "We believe in the Lord of Moses and Aaron". 70 Pharaoh said, 'Have you believed him before I gave you leave? Why, he is the chief of you, the same that taught you sorcery; I shall assuredly cut off alternately your hands and feet, then I shall crucify you upon the trunks of palm-trees; you shall know of a certainty which of us is more terrible in chastisement, and more abiding.' 71 They said: We do not prefer you to what has come to us of clear arguments and to He Who made us, therefore decide what you are going to decide; you can only decide about this world's life. 72 "For us, we have believed in our Lord: may He forgive us our faults, and the magic to which thou didst compel us: for Allah is Best and Most Abiding." 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 whoever comes before Him a believer having done good deeds, will be raised to higher stations -- 75 living for ever in the Gardens of Eden, underneath which rivers flow. Such shall be the recompense of he who purifies himself. 76