The unbelievers said to their Messengers, 'We will assuredly expel you from our land, or you will surely return into our creed.' Then did their Lord reveal unto them: 'We will surely destroy the evildoers, 13 and most certainly shall We cause you to dwell on earth [long] after they have passed away: this is [My promise] unto all who stand in awe of My presence, and stand in awe of My warning!" 14 But they (the Messengers) sought victory and help [from their Lord (Allah)], and every obstinate, arrogant dictator (who refuses to believe in the Oneness of Allah) was brought to a complete loss and destruction. 15 Hell is before him and he shall be made to drink of the oozing pus, 16 gulping it [unceasingly,] little by little, and yet hardly able to swallow it. And death will beset him from every quarter - but he shall not die: for [yet more] severe suffering lies ahead of him. 17 [This, then, is] the parable of those who are bent on denying their Sustainer: all their works are as ashes which the wind blows about fiercely on a stormy day: [in the life to come,] they cannot achieve any benefit whatever from all [the good] that they may have wrought: for this [denial of God] is indeed the farthest one can go astray. 18 Beholdest thou not that Allah hath created the heavens and the earth with a purpose? If He willed He would make you pass away and bring a creation new. 19 indeed, that is no great thing for Allah. 20 They shall all appear before God and the weak will say to those who behaved proudly, "We were your followers. Can you protect us from God's punishment?" They will reply, "Had God given us guidance, we would have guided you. It is all the same whether we are patient or impatient; there is no escape for us." 21