۞ We have created you from the earth to which We will return you and will bring you back to life again. 55 And truly We showed him Our signs, all of them, but he rejected and refused. 56 He said, "Have you come to us to drive us out of our land with your magic, O Moses? 57 "Then verily, we can produce magic the like thereof; so appoint a meeting between us and you, which neither we, nor you shall fail to keep, in an open wide place where both shall have a just and equal chance (and beholders could witness the competition)." 58 Moses said: "The appointment to meet you is on the Day of the Feast and let all people come together before noon." 59 After this the Pharaoh withdrew and settled his stratagem, then came back. 60 Moses said to him: Woe to you! Forge not ye a lie against Allah, lest He destroy you (at once) utterly by chastisement: the forger must suffer frustration!" 61 So they debated among themselves as to what to do; but they kept their counsel secret, 62 They said, “Undoubtedly these two are magicians for sure, who wish to expel you from your land by the strength of their magic, and destroy your exemplary religion!” 63 Wherefore devise your stratagem, and then come in a row; and prospered today is he who overcometh. 64 They said, 'Moses, either thou wilt cast, or we shall be the first to cast.' 65 He said, "Rather, you throw." And suddenly their ropes and staffs seemed to him from their magic that they were moving [like snakes]. 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 And throw down what is in your right hand; it will swallow up all that they have wrought. They have wrought only a magician's stratagem. A magician cannot come to any good, come whence he may." 69 So the magicians were thrown down to prostration: they said, "We believe in the Lord of Aaron and Moses". 70 [Pharaoh] said, "You believed him before I gave you permission. Indeed, he is your leader who has taught you magic. So I will surely cut off your hands and your feet on opposite sides, and I will crucify you on the trunks of palm trees, and you will surely know which of us is more severe in [giving] punishment and more enduring." 71 They said, “We shall never prefer you above the clear proofs that have come to us from the One Who has created us – therefore carry out what you want to; only in the life of this world will you be able to!” 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 whosoever cometh unto his lord as a culprit, for him is Hell wherein he will neither die nor live. 74 And whosoever cometh unto Him as a believer, and he hath done righteous works - then these! for them are ranks high. 75 Gardens of Eden underneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide for ever. That is the reward of him who groweth. 76