Those who deny the truth said to their messengers, "We shall banish you from our land unless you return to our ways." But their Lord inspired the messengers, saying, "We shall destroy the evil-doers, 13 and let you live in the land after them. This is for him who fears My station and fears My threat' 14 And they requested victory from Allah, and disappointed, [therefore], was every obstinate tyrant. 15 Hell is before him, and he is made to drink a festering water, 16 which he will gulp but will scarcely swallow, and death will come upon him from every quarter, and yet he will not be able to die. A terrible chastisement lies ahead in pursuit of him. 17 The works of those who deny their Lord are like ashes which the wind scatters on a stormy day: they shall gain nothing from what they do. To act thus is to stray far into error. 18 Seest thou not that Allah created the heavens and the earth in Truth? If He so will, He can remove you and put (in your place) a new creation? 19 And for Allah that is not hard. 20 Then all of them will appear exposed before Allah, and the weak ones will say to the haughty ones: "We merely followed you. Will you, then, protect us from Allah's chastisement?" They will say: "Had Allah shown us the Way to our salvation, we would surely have also guided you. Now it is all the same whether we cry or suffer patiently, we have no escape." 21