۞ Out of the earth We created you, and We shall restore you into it, and bring you forth from it a second time.' 55 So We showed him (Pharaoh) Our signs, all of them, but he belied and refused them. 56 He said: art thou come unto us that thou mayest drive us out of our land by thy magic, O Musa! 57 We shall confront you with a sorcery like your own. So appoint a day when both of us might meet face to face in an open space; an appointment which neither we nor you shall fail to keep." 58 Said (Moses): "Let your meeting be on the day of the Feast, and let people assemble in broad daylight." 59 So Pharaoh went away, put together his plan, and then came [to Moses]. 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 Thereupon they wrangled among themselves about the matter and conferred in secret. 62 saying [to one another]: "These two are surely sorcerers intent on driving you from your land by their sorcery, and on doing away with your time-honoured way of life. 63 "Therefore concert your plan, and then assemble in (serried) ranks: He wins (all along) today who gains the upper hand." 64 The magicians said: "Moses, will you throw down or shall we be the first to throw?" 65 Moses said, "You throw down first." Suddenly their ropes and staffs appeared to him, by their magic, to be moving about rapidly, 66 and Moses conceived a fear within him. 67 We told him, "Do not be afraid for you will be the winner. 68 Throw down what is in your right hand: It will swallow up what they have conjured. For what they have fashioned is only a trick of the sorcerer; and a sorcerer does not succeed wherever he may come." 69 The magicians then prostrated themselves. They said, "We believe in the Lord of Aaron and Moses." 70 The Pharaoh said, "Since you believed in him without my permission, then Moses certainly must be your chief who has taught you magic. I shall cut your hands and feet on alternate sides and crucify you on the trunk of the palm-tree. You shall certainly find which among us can afflict a more severe and lasting punishment". 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 We believe in our Lord that He may forgive us our sins and also forgive us the practice of magic to which you had compelled us. Allah is the Best and He alone will abide." 73 Lo! whoso cometh guilty unto his Lord, verily for him is hell. There he will neither die nor live. 74 But whoever comes before Him a believer having done good deeds, will be raised to higher stations -- 75 living for ever in the Gardens of Eden, underneath which rivers flow. Such shall be the recompense of he who purifies himself. 76