۞ From the (earth) did We create you, and into it shall We return you, and from it shall We bring you out once again. 55 And indeed We showed him [Fir'aun (Pharaoh)] all Our Signs and Evidences, but he denied and refused. 56 'Hast thou come, Moses,' he said, 'to expel us out of our land 57 We shall also answer you by magic. Let us make an appointment for a contest among us and let each of us be present at a certain time in the appointed place". 58 Moses said, "Let the contest take place on the Day of Feast so that all the people can come together during the brightness of the day." 59 Thereupon Pharaoh withdrew [with his counsellors] and decided upon the scheme which he would pursue; and then he came [to the tryst]. 60 Moses said to them: "Woe betide you. Do not fabricate a lie against God, or He will destroy you with some affliction. For he who fabricates lies is doomed to failure." 61 Then they wrangled about their affair among themselves, and kept secret their private counsel. 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 So resolve upon your plan and then come [forward] in line. And he has succeeded today who overcomes." 64 They said: "Either you cast (your spell), O Moses, or we shall cast it first." 65 He said: Nay, do ye throw! Then lo! their cords and their staves, by their magic, appeared to him as though they ran. 66 So Moses' heart was filled with fear. 67 We said: "Fear not! for thou hast indeed the upper hand: 68 And [now] throw that [staff] which is in thy right hand - it shall swallow up all that they have wrought: [for] they have wrought only a sorcerer's artifice, and the sorcerer can never come to any good, whatever he may aim at!" 69 Eventually the magicians were impelled to fall down prostrate and said: "We believe in the Lord of Moses and Aaron." 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 (the magicians) said, "We would never prefer you to the miracles that we have seen or to our Creator. Do what you want. This life is only for a short time. 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 Gehenna (Hell) awaits whosoever comes before his Lord as a sinner, there he shall neither die nor live. 74 And whoso comes unto Him a believer having done deeds of righteousness, those -- for them await the most sublime degrees; 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