۞ 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 So We showed him all Our signs, but he denied them and refused, 56 He said, “Have you come to us in order to expel us from our land by your magic, O Moosa?” 57 We will certainly bring you magic to match it. So appoint a time between us and you, in an open space, which neither we nor you will fail to keep." 58 Musa said: your appointment is the gala day, and that the people be gathered in the forenoon. 59 So Fir'aun (Pharaoh) withdrew, devised his plot and then came back. 60 Moses said to the magicians summoned by Pharaoh, "Woe to you! Do not invent a lie against Allah or He will exterminate you with a punishment; and he has failed who invents [such falsehood]." 61 Then they debated with one another what they must do, and they kept their talk 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 Wherefore devise your stratagem, and then come in a row; and prospered today is he who overcometh. 64 They said:"O Musa (Moses)! Either you throw first or we be the first to throw?" 65 He answered: "Nay, you throw [first]." And lo! by virtue of their sorcery, their [magic] ropes and staffs seemed to him to be moving rapidly: 66 And he sensed within himself apprehension, did Moses. 67 [But] We said: "Fear not! Verily, it is thou who shalt prevail! 68 "And throw that which is in your right hand! It will swallow up that which they have made. That which they have made is only a magician's trick, and the magician will never be successful, no matter whatever amount (of skill) he may attain." 69 Therefore all the magicians were thrown down prostrate – they said, “We accept faith in the One Who is the Lord of Haroon and Moosa.” 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 by no means prefer thee to that which hath come to us of the evidences, and Him Who hath created us; so decree thou whatsoever thou shalt decree; thou canst only decree in respect of the life of this world. 72 Verily we! we have believed in our Lord, that he may forgive us our faults, and that to which thou hast constrained us in the way of magic; and Allah is Best and Most Lasting. 73 Lo! whoso cometh guilty unto his Lord, verily for him is hell. There he will neither die nor live. 74 But whoever comes to Him (Allah) as a believer (in the Oneness of Allah, etc.), and has done righteous good deeds, for such are the high ranks (in the Hereafter), 75 and shall live for ever in everlasting Gardens beneath which rivers flow. Such will be the reward of those who purify themselves. 76