قالَ فَما بالُ القُرونِ الأولىٰ

[Pharaoh] said, "Then what is the case of the former generations?"

قالَ عِلمُها عِندَ رَبّي في كِتابٍ ۖ لا يَضِلُّ رَبّي وَلا يَنسَى

[Moses] said, "The knowledge thereof is with my Lord in a record. My Lord neither errs nor forgets."

الَّذي جَعَلَ لَكُمُ الأَرضَ مَهدًا وَسَلَكَ لَكُم فيها سُبُلًا وَأَنزَلَ مِنَ السَّماءِ ماءً فَأَخرَجنا بِهِ أَزواجًا مِن نَباتٍ شَتّىٰ

[It is He] who has made for you the earth as a bed [spread out] and inserted therein for you roadways and sent down from the sky, rain and produced thereby categories of various plants.

كُلوا وَارعَوا أَنعامَكُم ۗ إِنَّ في ذٰلِكَ لَآياتٍ لِأُولِي النُّهىٰ

Eat [therefrom] and pasture your livestock. Indeed, in that are signs for those of intelligence.

مِنها خَلَقناكُم وَفيها نُعيدُكُم وَمِنها نُخرِجُكُم تارَةً أُخرىٰ

From the earth We created you, and into it We will return you, and from it We will extract you another time.

قالَ أَجِئتَنا لِتُخرِجَنا مِن أَرضِنا بِسِحرِكَ يا موسىٰ

He said, "Have you come to us to drive us out of our land with your magic, O Moses?

فَلَنَأتِيَنَّكَ بِسِحرٍ مِثلِهِ فَاجعَل بَينَنا وَبَينَكَ مَوعِدًا لا نُخلِفُهُ نَحنُ وَلا أَنتَ مَكانًا سُوًى

Then we will surely bring you magic like it, so make between us and you an appointment, which we will not fail to keep and neither will you, in a place assigned."

قالَ مَوعِدُكُم يَومُ الزّينَةِ وَأَن يُحشَرَ النّاسُ ضُحًى

[Moses] said, "Your appointment is on the day of the festival when the people assemble at mid-morning."

فَتَوَلّىٰ فِرعَونُ فَجَمَعَ كَيدَهُ ثُمَّ أَتىٰ

So Pharaoh went away, put together his plan, and then came [to Moses].

قالَ لَهُم موسىٰ وَيلَكُم لا تَفتَروا عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِبًا فَيُسحِتَكُم بِعَذابٍ ۖ وَقَد خابَ مَنِ افتَرىٰ

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]."