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, behold they ridiculed them. 47 even though each sign We showed them was greater than the previous one. We afflicted them with torment so that they might return [to the right path]. 48 And they said [to Musa (Moses)]: "O you sorcerer! Invoke your Lord for us according to what He has covenanted with you. Verily, We shall guide ourselves (aright)." 49 When We relieved them from the torment they suddenly turned back on their heels. 50 And Fir'aun (Pharaoh) proclaimed among his people, saying: "O my people! Is not mine the dominion of Egypt, and these rivers flowing underneath me. See you not then? 51 Am I better or this contemptible man who is scarcely able to express himself? 52 Why have bracelets of gold not been given to him and why have some angels not accompanied him?" 53 So he made his people unsteady, and they obeyed him; surely they were an ungodly people. 54 When at length they provoked Us, We exacted retribution from them, and We drowned them all. 55 So We made them a bygone fable and a lesson for the latter generations. 56