۞ Out of the earth We created you, and We shall restore you into it, and bring you forth from it a second time.' 55 And truly We showed him Our signs, all of them, but he rejected and refused. 56 He [Fir'aun (Pharaoh)] said: "Have you come to drive us out of our land with your magic, O Musa (Moses)? 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 Answered [Moses]: "Your tryst shall be the day of the Festival; and let the people assemble when the sun is risen high." 59 So Fir'aun (Pharaoh) withdrew, devised his plot and then came back. 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 disputed with one another about their affair and kept the discourse secret. 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 strengthen your scheme, and come forth in rows; indeed whoever dominates this day has succeeded.” 64 Said [the sorcerers]: "O Moses! Either thou throw [thy staff first,] or we shall be the first to throw." 65 He said, "Rather, you throw." And suddenly their ropes and staffs seemed to him from their magic that they were moving [like snakes]. 66 Then a kind of fear in his soul Musa felt. 67 We said to him: "Fear not. You will certainly be victorious. 68 And [now] throw that [staff] which is in thy right hand - it shall swallow up all that they have wrought: [for] they have wrought only a sorcerer's artifice, and the sorcerer can never come to any good, whatever he may aim at!" 69 So the magicians fell down prostrate. They said: "We believe in the Lord of Harun (Aaron) and Musa (Moses)." 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 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 We believe in our Lord so that He forgives us our sins and the sorcery you have forced us to practice. Allah is Better, and Everlasting' 73 Indeed, whoever comes to his Lord as a criminal - indeed, for him is Hell; he will neither die therein nor live. 74 And whosoever cometh unto Him as a believer, and he hath done righteous works - then these! for them are ranks high. 75 and shall live for ever in everlasting Gardens beneath which rivers flow. Such will be the reward of those who purify themselves. 76