۞ 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 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 [Moses] said, "Your appointment is on the day of the festival when the people assemble at mid-morning." 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 Then they wrangled about their affair among themselves, and kept secret their private counsel. 62 saying: 'These two are sorcerers whose aim is to drive you from your land by their sorcery and destroy your noble ways. 63 Wherefore devise your stratagem, and then come in a row; and prospered today is he who overcometh. 64 They said: O Moses! Either throw first, or let us be the first to throw? 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 and in his heart Moses became apprehensive. 67 Allah said, "Fear not. Indeed, it is you who are superior. 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 in prostration. They said, "We have believed in the Lord of Aaron and Moses." 70 [Pharaoh] said, "You believed him before I gave you permission. Indeed, he is your leader who has taught you magic. So I will surely cut off your hands and your feet on opposite sides, and I will crucify you on the trunks of palm trees, and you will surely know which of us is more severe in [giving] punishment and more enduring." 71 They said, “We shall never prefer you above the clear proofs that have come to us from the One Who has created us – therefore carry out what you want to; only in the life of this world will you be able to!” 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 Gardens of Eden, underneath which rivers flow, therein dwelling forever; that is the recompense of the self-purified. 76