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 brought to them Our signs 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 And [every time] they exclaimed: "O thou sorcerer! Pray for us to thy Sustainer on the strength of the covenant [of prophethood] which He has made with thee: for, verily, we shall now follow the right way!" 49 But lo, each time We removed Our affliction from them, they would go back on their word. 50 Pharaoh called to his people, "My people, is the Kingdom of Egypt not mine? And these rivers that flow at my feet, are they not mine? Do you not see? 51 "Am I not better than this one [Musa (Moses)], who is Mahin [has no honour nor any respect, and is weak and despicable] and can scarcely express himself clearly? 52 "And then - why have no golden armlets been bestowed on him? or why have no angels come together with him?" 53 In this way he fooled his people and they obeyed him: they were a rebellious people. 54 When at length they provoked Us, We exacted retribution from them, and We drowned them all. 55 And We made them a precedent and example to the later generations. 56