۞ We created you from it (the earth), and to it We shall restore you; and from it We will bring you forth yet a second time. 55 And assuredly We shewed him Our signs, all of them, but he belied and refused. 56 He said to Moses, "Have you come to expel us from our land through your magic? 57 "Then verily, we can produce magic the like thereof; so appoint a meeting between us and you, which neither we, nor you shall fail to keep, in an open wide place where both shall have a just and equal chance (and beholders could witness the competition)." 58 Musa said: your appointment is the gala day, and that the people be gathered in the forenoon. 59 Thereupon Pharaoh withdrew [with his counsellors] and decided upon the scheme which he would pursue; and then he came [to the tryst]. 60 Musa said to them: Woe to you! do not forge a lie against Allah, lest He destroy you by a punishment, and he who forges (a lie) indeed fails to attain (his desire). 61 So they discussed their strategy among themselves and conferred privately, 62 and said, "These two people are magicians. They want to expel you from your land through their magic and to destroy your own tradition. 63 Therefore settle your plan, then come standing in ranks and he will prosper indeed this day who overcomes. 64 They said, "Moses, will you throw down first, or shall we be the first to throw down?" 65 Moses replied: 'No, you throw first' And by their sorcery it seemed to him that their ropes and staffs were sliding. 66 Then a kind of fear in his soul Musa felt. 67 [But] We said: "Fear not! Verily, it is thou who shalt prevail! 68 Throw down what is in your right hand and it will swallow up all that they have performed; theirs is only a magical performance. Magicians can find no happiness in whatever they do." 69 So the magicians were thrown down to prostration: they said, "We believe in the Lord of Aaron and Moses". 70 (The Pharaoh) said: "You have come to believe without my dispensation. Surely he is your chief who taught you magic. I will have your hands and feet cut off on alternate sides and crucify you on the trunks of date-palm trees. You will come to know whose punishment is harder and protracted." 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 have certainly come to believe in our Lord that He may forgive our trespasses and the magic you have forced us to perform, for God is nobler and abiding." 73 Surely for him who comes before his Lord a sinner shall be Hell, where he will neither die nor live. 74 But he who comes to Him as a believer, having done good deeds, shall be exalted to the highest ranks, 75 The gardens of perpetuity, beneath which rivers flow, to abide therein; and this is the reward of him who has purified himself. 76