The unbelievers said to their apostles: "We shall drive you out of our land, or else you come back to our fold." Their Lord then communicated to them: "We shall annihilate these wicked people, 13 and will then cause you to settle in the land as their successors. That is the reward for him who fears to stand for reckoning and holds My threat in awe." 14 And they sought help (from their Lord) and every froward potentate was bought to naught; 15 Hell is before him, and he is made to drink a festering water, 16 As they sip the unpleasant water, death will approach them from all sides, but they will never die. In addition to this, they will experience the most intense torment. 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 Do you not see that God has created the heavens and the earth for a purpose? He can eliminate you if He wills and bring into being a new creation: 19 Nor is that for Allah any great matter. 20 When they will all appear before God together, the weak will say to those who were arrogant: "We were your followers, so can you now save us a little from God's punishment?" They will say: "If we had been guided by God we would surely have shown you the way. To lament or endure is all the same to us now. No getting away is there for us." 21