Those are the cities whose news We relate to you, [O Muhammad]. And certainly did their messengers come to them with clear proofs, but they were not to believe in that which they had denied before. Thus does Allah seal over the hearts of the disbelievers.

And We did not find for most of them any covenant; but indeed, We found most of them to be defiantly disobedient.

Then We sent after them Moses with Our signs to Pharaoh and his establishment, but they were unjust toward them. So see how was the end of the corrupters.

And Moses said, "O Pharaoh, I am a messenger from the Lord of the worlds."

[I am] obligated not to say about Allah except the truth. I have come to you with clear evidence from your Lord, so send with me the Children of Israel."

[Pharaoh] said, "If you have come with a sign, then bring it forth, if you should be of the truthful."

So he threw his staff, and suddenly it was a serpent, manifest.

And he drew out his hand; thereupon it was white for the observers.

Said the establishment from among the people of Pharaoh, "Indeed, this is a learned magician.

He wants to expel you from your land [through magic], so what do you instruct?"

They said, "Postpone [the matter of] him and his brother and send among the cities gatherers

Who will bring you every learned magician."

And the magicians came to Pharaoh. They said, "Indeed for us is a reward if we are the predominant."

He said, "Yes, and indeed, you will be of those brought near [to me]."

They said, "O Moses, either you throw [your staff], or we will be the ones to throw [first]."

He said, "Throw," and when they threw, they bewitched the eyes of the people and struck terror into them, and they presented a great magic.

And We inspired to Moses, "Throw your staff," and at once it devoured what they were falsifying.

So the truth was established, and abolished was what they were doing.

And Pharaoh and his people were overcome right there and became debased.

And the magicians fell down in prostration [to Allah].

They said, "We have believed in the Lord of the worlds,

The Lord of Moses and Aaron."

Pharaoh said, "You believed in him before I gave you permission. Indeed, this is a plot which you have devised in the city to expel from it its people. But you are going to know.

I will surely cut off your hands and your feet on opposite sides; then I will surely crucify you all."

They said, "Indeed, to our Lord we will return.

And you do not resent us except because we believed in the signs of our Lord when they came to us. Our Lord, pour upon us patience and let us die as Muslims [in submission to You]."

And the establishment of Pharaoh's people said, "Will you leave Moses and his people to cause corruption in the land and abandon you and your gods?" [Pharaoh] said, "We will kill their sons and keep their women alive; and indeed, we are subjugators over them."

Moses said to his people, "Seek help through Allah and be patient. Indeed, the earth belongs to Allah. He causes to inherit it whom He wills of His servants. And the [best] outcome is for the righteous."

They said, "We have been harmed before you came to us and after you have come to us." He said, "Perhaps your Lord will destroy your enemy and grant you succession in the land and see how you will do."

And We certainly seized the people of Pharaoh with years of famine and a deficiency in fruits that perhaps they would be reminded.

But when good came to them, they said, "This is ours [by right]." And if a bad condition struck them, they saw an evil omen in Moses and those with him. Unquestionably, their fortune is with Allah, but most of them do not know.

And they said, "No matter what sign you bring us with which to bewitch us, we will not be believers in you."

So We sent upon them the flood and locusts and lice and frogs and blood as distinct signs, but they were arrogant and were a criminal people.

And when the punishment descended upon them, they said, "O Moses, invoke for us your Lord by what He has promised you. If you should remove from us the punishment, we will surely believe you, and we will surely send with you the Children of Israel."

But when We removed from them the punishment for a term they were to reach, then at once they broke their word.

So We took retribution from them, and We drowned them in the sea because they denied Our signs and were heedless of them.

And We caused the people who had been oppressed to inherit the eastern regions of the land and the western ones, which We had blessed. And the good word of your Lord was fulfilled for the Children of Israel because of what they had patiently endured. And We destroyed what Pharaoh and his people were making and what they had been building.

And We took the Children of Israel across the sea; then they came upon a people intent in devotion to [some] idols of theirs. They said, "O Moses, make for us a god just as they have gods." He said, "Indeed, you are a people behaving ignorantly.

"Indeed, those [worshippers] - destroyed is that in which they are [engaged], and worthless is what they were doing."

He said, "Is it other than Allah that I should seek for you a god while He has preferred you over the worlds?"

And [remember] when We saved you from the people of Pharaoh, who were afflicting you with the worst torment - killing your sons and keeping your women alive. And in that was a great trial from your Lord.

And We made an appointment with Moses for thirty nights and perfected them by ten, and he completed the term of his Lord of forty nights. And Moses said to his brother Aaron, "Take my place among my people, do right [by them], and do not follow the way of the corrupters."

And when Moses arrived at Our appointed time and his Lord spoke to him, he said, "My Lord, show me [Yourself] that I may look at You." [Allah] said, "You will not see Me, but look at the mountain; if it should remain in place, then you will see Me." But when his Lord appeared to the mountain, He rendered it level, and Moses fell unconscious. And when he awoke, he said, "Exalted are You! I have repented to You, and I am the first of the believers."

[Allah] said, "O Moses, I have chosen you over the people with My messages and My words [to you]. So take what I have given you and be among the grateful."

And We wrote for him on the tablets [something] of all things - instruction and explanation for all things, [saying], "Take them with determination and order your people to take the best of them. I will show you the home of the defiantly disobedient.

I will turn away from My signs those who are arrogant upon the earth without right; and if they should see every sign, they will not believe in it. And if they see the way of righteousness, they will not take it as a way; but if they see the way of error, they will take it as a way. That is because they denied Our signs and were heedless of them.

Those who denied Our signs and the meeting of the Hereafter - their deeds have become worthless. Are they recompensed except for what they used to do?

And the people of Moses made, after [his departure], from their ornaments a calf - an image having a lowing sound. Did they not see that it could not speak to them or guide them to a way? They took it [for worship], and they were wrongdoers.

And when they regretted and saw that they had gone astray, they said, "If our Lord does not have mercy upon us and forgive us, we will surely be among the losers."

And when Moses returned to his people, angry and grieved, he said, "How wretched is that by which you have replaced me after me. Were you impatient over the matter of your Lord?" And he threw down the tablets and seized his brother by the head, dragging him toward him. [Aaron] said, "O son of my mother, indeed the people overpowered me and were about to kill me, so let not the enemies rejoice over me and do not place me among the wrongdoing people."