۞ Thereof (the earth) We created you, and into it We shall return you, and from it We shall bring you out once again. 55 So We showed him (Pharaoh) Our signs, all of them, but he belied and refused them. 56 He said: "Hast thou come to drive us out of our land by thy sorcery, 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 Said (Moses): "Let your meeting be on the day of the Feast, and let people assemble in broad daylight." 59 Pharaoh then withdrew, and gathered his guile. Thereafter he came again, 60 and Moses said to them: 'Alas! Do not forge a lie against Allah lest He destroys you with a punishment. Indeed, whosoever forges has failed' 61 So they differed with one another in their task, and secretly conferred. 62 They said, "Certainly they are both magicians who want to drive you out of your land by their magic, and destroy your best traditions. 63 "Therefore concert your plan, and then assemble in (serried) ranks: He wins (all along) today who gains the upper hand." 64 They said, "O Moses, either you throw or we will be the first to throw." 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 Then a kind of fear in his soul Musa felt. 67 We said unto him, 'Fear not; surely thou art 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 Thereafter the sorcerers threw themselves down, prostrating, saying: 'We believe in the Lord of Aaron and Moses' 70 'Have you believed him before I have given you permission' he (Pharaoh) said. 'Indeed, he (must be) your chief, the one who taught you sorcery. I will cut off on opposite sides a hand and a foot then crucify you on the trunks of palmtrees. Indeed, you shall know whose punishment is more stern, and more lasting' 71 They said, 'We will not prefer thee over the clear signs that have come to us, nor over Him who originated us. Decide then what thou wilt decide; thou canst only decide touching this present life. 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 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 to Him as a believer having done righteous deeds - for those will be the highest degrees [in position]: 75 will be rewarded by high status in the gardens of Eden wherein streams flow. Such will be the reward of those who purify themselves. 76