But they who denied the truth spoke [thus] unto their apostles: "We shall most certainly expel you from our land, unless you return forthwith to our ways. Whereupon their Sustainer revealed this to His apostles: "Most certainly shall We destroy these evildoers, 13 And We will surely cause you to dwell in the land after them: that is for him who feareth standing before Me and feareth My threat. 14 And they sought a decision, and every stubborn rebel was destroyed. 15 Gehenna (Hell) is before him and he is given oozing pus to drink, 16 he will sip and will not find it easy to swallow it. Death will approach him from every quarter, yet he will not die. More intense suffering will lie ahead of him. 17 The state of those who disbelieve in their Lord is that their deeds are like ashes which the strong wind blew away on a stormy day; they got nothing from all that they earned; this is the extreme error. 18 Do you not see that God has created the heavens and the earth with ultimate reason? If He so wills He could take you away from the earth and raise a new creation (in your place). 19 And for Allah that is not hard. 20 And all [mankind] will appear before God [on the Day of Judgment]; and then the weak will say unto those who had gloried in their arrogance: "Behold, We were but your followers: can you, then, relieve us of something of God's chastisement?" [And the others] will answer: "If God would but show us the way [to salvation,] we would indeed guide you [towards it]. It is [now] all one, as far as we are concerned, whether we grieve impatiently or endure [our lot] with patience: there is no escape for us!" 21