۞ From this very earth We created you and to the same earth We shall cause you to return, and from it We shall bring you forth to life again. 55 And assuredly We shewed him Our signs, all of them, but he belied and refused. 56 He said, "Have you come to us to turn us out of our land by means of your magic, Moses? 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 (Moses) said: Your tryst shall be the day of the feast, and let the people assemble when the sun hath risen high. 59 The Pharaoh returned to organize his plans and then attended the appointment. 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 So they discussed their strategy among themselves and conferred privately, 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 So resolve upon your plan and then come [forward] in line. And he has succeeded today who overcomes." 64 They said: O Musa! will you cast, or shall we be the first who cast down? 65 [Musa (Moses)] said: "Nay, throw you (first)!" Then behold, their ropes and their sticks, by their magic, appeared to him as though they moved fast. 66 And Moses conceived a fear in his mind. 67 We said: Fear not, surely you shall be the uppermost, 68 And throw what is in your right hand; it will swallow up what they have crafted. What they have crafted is but the trick of a magician, and the magician will not succeed wherever he is." 69 [And so it happened and down fell the sorcerers, prostrating themselves in adoration, [and] exclaimed: "We have come to believe in the Sustainer of Moses and Aaron!" 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 They replied: "We cannot choose you in the face of the clear testimony we have received, and over Him who created us. So do what you are determined to do. All that you would do will only be confined to our life on earth. 72 Lo! we believe in our Lord, that He may forgive us our sins and the magic unto which thou didst force us. Allah is better and more lasting. 73 Verily he who comes to his Lord as a sinner (at Judgment),- for him is Hell: therein shall he 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 living for ever in the Gardens of Eden, underneath which rivers flow. Such shall be the recompense of he who purifies himself. 76