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 when he came to them with Our signs, lo! they laughed at them. 47 We showed them Sign after Sign, each greater than its fellow, and We seized them with Punishment, in order that they might turn (to Us). 48 But they said: "O sorcerer, call on your Lord for us in accordance with the compact He has made with you. We shall certainly come to guidance." 49 But lo, each time We removed Our affliction from them, they would go back on their word. 50 And Pharaoh proclaimed among his people, saying: "O my people! Does not the dominion of Egypt belong to me, (witness) these streams flowing underneath my (palace)? What! see ye not then? 51 Am I not better than this lowly man who can barely express himself? 52 "Then why are not gold bracelets bestowed on him, or (why) come (not) with him angels accompanying him in procession?" 53 So when he had brainwashed his people, they followed him; indeed they were a disobedient nation. 54 But when they roused Our anger We inflicted retributive punishment and drowned them all, 55 So We made them a bygone fable and a lesson for the latter generations. 56