۞ Thereof We created you, and thereunto We return you, and therefrom We shall bring you forth once again. 55 And indeed We showed him all Our signs – so he denied them and did not accept. 56 He [Fir'aun (Pharaoh)] said: "Have you come to drive us out of our land with your magic, O Musa (Moses)? 57 In that case, we shall most certainly produce before thee the like thereof! Appoint, then, a tryst between us and thee - which we shall not fail to keep, nor [mayest] thou - at a suitable place!" 58 Moses said, "The day of the encounter will be the day of the festival, and let the people assemble when the sun has risen high." 59 So Pharaoh withdrew, devised his stratagem and returned. 60 Said Moses to them: "Woe unto you! Do not invent lies against God, lest He afflict you with most grievous suffering: for He who contrives [such] a lie is already undone!" 61 So they disputed, one with another, over their affair, but they kept their talk secret. 62 saying: 'These two are sorcerers whose aim is to drive you from your land by their sorcery and destroy your noble ways. 63 So prepare your strategy and come forward. He alone shall win today who is superior." 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 So Moses conceived in his mind a (sort of) fear. 67 We said: Fear not, surely you shall be the uppermost, 68 And cast down what is in your right hand; it shall devour what they have wrought; they have wrought only the plan of a magician, and the magician shall not be successful wheresoever he may come from. 69 Eventually the magicians were impelled to fall down prostrate and said: "We believe in the Lord of Moses and Aaron." 70 The Pharaoh said, "Since you believed in him without my permission, then Moses certainly must be your chief who has taught you magic. I shall cut your hands and feet on alternate sides and crucify you on the trunk of the palm-tree. You shall certainly find which among us can afflict a more severe and lasting punishment". 71 They said: "Never shall we regard thee as more than the Clear Signs that have come to us, or than Him Who created us! so decree whatever thou desirest to decree: for thou canst only decree (touching) the life of this world. 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 the one who comes guilty to his Lord – so undoubtedly for him is hell; neither dying nor living in it. 74 But for whosoever comes before Him as a believer and having done good works there awaits the most highest degree; 75 and shall live for ever in everlasting Gardens beneath which rivers flow. Such will be the reward of those who purify themselves. 76