۞ 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 truly We showed him Our signs, all of them, but he rejected and refused. 56 And said: "Have you come to us, O Moses, to drive us out of our land with your witchery? 57 by thy sorcery? We shall assuredly bring thee sorcery the like of it; therefore appoint a tryst between us and thee, a place mutually agreeable, and we shall not fail it, neither thou.' 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 So Fir'aun (Pharaoh) withdrew, devised his plot and then came back. 60 Moses said to him: Woe to you! Forge not ye a lie against Allah, lest He destroy you (at once) utterly by chastisement: the forger must suffer frustration!" 61 So they debated among themselves as to what to do; but they kept their counsel secret, 62 They said: verily these two are magicians, intending to drive you forth from your land by their magic and to do away with your superior way. 63 Gather your guile and then lineup a rank those who gain the upper hand today shall indeed prosper' 64 They said, "Moses, will you throw down first, or shall we be the first to throw down?" 65 He said, "Nay, throw ye first!" Then behold their ropes and their rods-so it seemed to him on account of their magic - began to be in lively motion! 66 So Moses conceived in his mind a (sort of) fear. 67 But We said to him: 'Do not be afraid; you shall surely be the uppermost. 68 Throw that which is in your right hand. It will swallow up that which they have made, for that which they made is but the guile of a sorcerer. Wherever he goes the sorcerer does not prosper' 69 And the magicians were cast down making obeisance; they said: We believe in the Lord of Haroun and Musa. 70 (Pharaoh) said: Ye put faith in him before I give you leave. Lo! he is your chief who taught you magic. Now surely I shall cut off your hands and your feet alternately, and I shall crucify you on the trunks of palm trees, and ye shall know for certain which of us hath sterner and more lasting punishment. 71 They said: We do not prefer you to what has come to us of clear arguments and to He Who made us, therefore decide what you are going to decide; you can only decide about this world's life. 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 Whosoever comes unto his Lord a sinner, for him awaits Gehenna wherein he shall neither die nor live. 74 But such as come to Him as Believers who have worked righteous deeds,- for them are ranks exalted,- 75 Gardens of Eden underneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide for ever. That is the reward of him who groweth. 76