Taha 20:51

He said, ‘What about former generations?’

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Moses said, ‘My Lord alone has knowledge of them, all in a record; my Lord does not err or forget.’

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It was He who spread out the earth for you and traced routes in it. He sent down water from the sky. With that water We bring forth every kind of plant

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so eat, and graze your cattle. There are truly signs in all this for people of understand-ing

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From the earth We created you, into it We shall return you, and from it We shall raise you a second time

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We showed Pharaoh all Our signs, but he denied them and refused [to change]

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He said, ‘Have you come to drive us from our land with your sorcery, Moses

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We will confront you with sorcery to match your own: make an appointment between us which neither of us will fail to keep, in a mutually agreeable place.’

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He said, ‘Your meeting will be on the day of the feast, so let the people be assembled when the sun has risen high.’

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Pharaoh withdrew and gathered his resources, then he returned

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Moses said to them, ‘Beware, do not invent lies against God or He will destroy you with His punishment. Whoever invents lies will fail.’

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So they discussed their plan among themselves, talking secretly

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saying, ‘These two men are sorcerers. Their purpose is to drive you out of your land with their sorcery and put an end to your time-honoured way of life

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So gather your resources and line up for the contest. Whoever wins today is sure to prosper.’

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They said, ‘Moses, will you throw first or shall we?’

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‘You throw,’ said Moses, and––lo and behold!––through their sorcery, their ropes and staffs seemed to him to be moving

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Moses was inwardly alarmed

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but We said, ‘Do not be afraid, you have the upper hand

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Throw down what is in your right hand: it will swallow up what they have produced. They have only produced the tricks of a sorcerer, and a sorcerer will not prosper, wherever he goes.’

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[So it was, and] the sorcerers threw themselves down in submission. ‘We believe,’ they said, ‘in the Lord of Aaron and Moses.’

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Pharaoh said, ‘How dare you believe in him before I have given you permission? This must be your master, the man who taught you witchcraft. I shall certainly cut off your alternate hands and feet, then crucify you on the trunks of palm trees. You will know for certain which of us has the fiercer and more lasting punishment.’

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They said, ‘We shall never prefer you to the clear sign that has come to us, nor to Him who created us. So decide whatever you will: you can only decide matters of this present life

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we believe in our Lord, [hoping] He may forgive us our sins and the sorcery that you forced us to practise- God is better and more lasting.’

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Hell will be the reward of those who return to their Lord as evildoers: there they will stay, neither living nor dying

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But those who return to their Lord as believers with righteous deeds will be rewarded with the highest of ranks

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