۞ From the earth We have created you and We will return you to it, and from it We shall bring you forth a second time. 55 And We verily did show him all Our tokens, but he denied them and refused. 56 He said: Hast come to drive us out from our land by thy magic, O Moses? 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 He (Moses) replied: 'Your meeting shall be on the day of the feast, and let the people be assembled by midmorning' 59 Then Firawn turned away, devised his stratagem; thereafter he came. 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 debated one with another what they must do, and they kept their counsel secret. 62 saying: 'These two are sorcerers whose aim is to drive you from your land by their sorcery and destroy your noble ways. 63 So prepare your strategy and come forward. He alone shall win today who is superior." 64 They said: either thou cast down, or we shall be the first to cast down. 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 Then a kind of fear in his soul Musa felt. 67 We told him, "Do not be afraid for you will be the winner. 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 And the sorcerers cast themselves down prostrating. 'We believe,' they said, 'in the Lord of Aaron and Moses.' 70 Fir'awn said; believed ye in him ere I gave you leave! verily he is your chief who hath taught you magic. So I will surely cut off your hands and feet on the opposite sides, and will surely crucify you on the trunks of palm-trees, and ye shall surely know whichever of us is severer in torment and more lasting. 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 "Verily! We have believed in our Lord, that He may forgive us our faults, and the magic to which you did compel us. And Allah is better as regards reward in comparison to your [Fir'aun's (Pharaoh)] reward, and more lasting (as regards punishment in comparison to your punishment)." 73 Indeed, whoever comes to his Lord as a criminal - indeed, for him is 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 Eden, underneath which rivers flow, therein dwelling forever; that is the recompense of the self-purified. 76