قالَ رَبُّنَا الَّذي أَعطىٰ كُلَّ شَيءٍ خَلقَهُ ثُمَّ هَدىٰ
He answered, “Our Lord is the One who gave everything its creation, then guided.”
قالَ فَما بالُ القُرونِ الأولىٰ
He asked, “What was the condition of the earlier generations?”
قالَ عِلمُها عِندَ رَبّي في كِتابٍ ۖ لا يَضِلُّ رَبّي وَلا يَنسَى
He answered, “knowledge about them is with my Lord, documented 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
He who made the earth a habitat for you, and He traced out routes within it. And He sends down water from the sky, with which We produce diverse pairs of plants.
كُلوا وَارعَوا أَنعامَكُم ۗ إِنَّ في ذٰلِكَ لَآياتٍ لِأُولِي النُّهىٰ
Eat and let your livestock graze. In this, there are signs for those with discernment.
مِنها خَلَقناكُم وَفيها نُعيدُكُم وَمِنها نُخرِجُكُم تارَةً أُخرىٰ
From it, We created you, and into it, We will return you. And from it, We will extract you once again.
وَلَقَد أَرَيناهُ آياتِنا كُلَّها فَكَذَّبَ وَأَبىٰ
We showed him all Our signs, but he denied and refused.
قالَ أَجِئتَنا لِتُخرِجَنا مِن أَرضِنا بِسِحرِكَ يا موسىٰ
He said, “Did you come to evict us from our land with your magic, O Moses?
فَلَنَأتِيَنَّكَ بِسِحرٍ مِثلِهِ فَاجعَل بَينَنا وَبَينَكَ مَوعِدًا لا نُخلِفُهُ نَحنُ وَلا أَنتَ مَكانًا سُوًى
We will bring you magic like it. So, set a date between us and you, in a neutral place, which neither we nor you will fail to attend.”
قالَ مَوعِدُكُم يَومُ الزّينَةِ وَأَن يُحشَرَ النّاسُ ضُحًى
He replied, “Your appointment is on Festival Day, and let the people gather in the morning.”
فَتَوَلّىٰ فِرعَونُ فَجَمَعَ كَيدَهُ ثُمَّ أَتىٰ
Pharaoh turned his back, formulated his plan, and then came back.