۞ 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 We certainly showed Pharaoh Our signs - all of them - but he denied and refused. 56 He said: art thou come unto us that thou mayest drive us out of our land by thy magic, O Musa! 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 (Moses)] said: "Your appointed meeting is the day of the festival, and let the people assemble when the sun has risen (forenoon)." 59 So Firon turned his back and settled his plan, then came. 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 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 So arrange your plan, and come in battle line. Whoso is uppermost this day will be indeed successful. 64 They said:"O Musa (Moses)! Either you throw first or we be the first to throw?" 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 to him: "Have no fear; for it is you who will prevail. 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 And the magicians were cast down making obeisance; they said: We believe in the Lord of Haroun and Musa. 70 Said [Pharaoh]: "Have you come to believe in him ere I have given you permission? Verily, he must be your master who has taught you magic! But I shall most certainly cut off your hands and feet in great numbers, because of [your] perverseness, and I shall most certainly crucify you in great numbers on trunks of palm-trees: and [I shall do this] so that you might come to know for certain as to which of us [two] can inflict a more severe chastisement, and [which] is the more abiding!" 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 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 Gehenna (Hell) awaits whosoever comes before his Lord as a sinner, there 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 he will abide forever in the Gardens of eternity, through which rivers flow. That is the recompense for those who purify themselves. 76