THUS, INDEED, have We sent Moses with Our messages unto Pharaoh and his great ones; and he said: "Behold, I am an apostle of the Sustainer of all the worlds!" 46 But as soon as he came before them with Our [miraculous] signs, lo! they derided them, 47 And not a sign We showed them, but it was greater than its sister sign; and We seized them with chastisement, that haply they should return. 48 And they said, 'Sorcerer, pray to thy Lord for us by the covenant He has made with thee, and surely we shall be right-guided.' 49 But when We removed from them the chastisement, lo! they broke the pledge. 50 And Pharaoh caused a proclamation to be made among his people saying: O my people! Is not mine the sovereignty of Egypt and these rivers flowing under me? Can ye not then discern? 51 Am I not better than this contemptible (man), who can scarcely make things clear (because of the impediment of his speech)? 52 "Why then are not golden bracelets bestowed on him, or angels sent along with him?" 53 Thus, he made dimwits out of his people and they followed him. They, certainly, were a sinful people. When they invoked Our anger, 54 And when they angered Us, We took vengeance on them and drowned all of them, 55 and We made them a thing of the past, and We made them an example to later people. 56