۞ 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 assuredly We shewed him Our signs, all of them, but he belied and refused. 56 He said: art thou come unto us that thou mayest drive us out of our land by thy magic, O Musa! 57 So We shall surely bring unto thee a magic the like thereof; so Make between us and thee an appointment which neither we nor thou shall fail in some open space. 58 Musa said: your appointment is the gala day, and that the people be gathered in the forenoon. 59 So Pharaoh withdrew: He concerted his plan, and then came (back). 60 Musa said to them: Woe to you! do not forge a lie against Allah, lest He destroy you by a punishment, and he who forges (a lie) indeed fails to attain (his desire). 61 So they debated among themselves as to what to do; but they kept their counsel secret, 62 They said: "These two are certainly (expert) magicians: their object is to drive you out from your land with their magic, and to do away with your most cherished institutions. 63 Therefore, decide upon your plan and then come forward in ranks. Whoever gains the upper hand today shall surely triumph." 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 He said, "Rather, you throw." And suddenly their ropes and staffs seemed to him from their magic that they were moving [like snakes]. 66 So Musa (Moses) conceived a fear in himself. 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 So the magicians were thrown down to prostration: they said, "We believe in the Lord of Aaron and Moses". 70 (Firon) said: You believe in him before I give you leave; most surely he is the chief of you who taught you enchantment, therefore I will certainly cut off your hands and your feet on opposite sides, and I will certainly crucify you on the trunks of the palm trees, and certainly you will come to know which of us is the more severe and the more abiding in chastising. 71 They said, "Never shall we prefer you to all the evidence of the truth that has come to us. Nor to Him who has brought us into being. So decide whatever you will. Your jurisdiction only covers the life of this world -- 72 We believe in our Lord, that He may pardon us our offences, and the sorcery thou hast constrained us to practise; God is better, and more abiding.' 73 VERILY, as for him who shall appear before his Sustainer [on Judgment Day] lost in sin - his [portion,] behold, shall be hell: he will neither die therein nor live; 74 whereas he who shall appear before Him as a believer who has done righteous deeds - it is such that shall have lofty stations [in the life to come]: 75 Gardens of perpetual residence beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide eternally. And that is the reward of one who purifies himself. 76