وَمَانُرِيهِممِّنْءَايَةٍإِلَّاهِىَأَكْبَرُمِنْأُخْتِهَا ۖوَأَخَذْنَـٰهُمبِٱلْعَذَابِلَعَلَّهُمْيَرْجِعُونَ٤٨

And We showed them not a sign except that it was greater than its sister, and We seized them with affliction that perhaps they might return [to faith].

And they said [to Moses], "O magician, invoke for us your Lord by what He has promised you. Indeed, we will be guided."

But when We removed from them the affliction, at once they broke their word.

And Pharaoh called out among his people; he said, "O my people, does not the kingdom of Egypt belong to me, and these rivers flowing beneath me; then do you not see?

Or am I [not] better than this one [i.e., Moses] who is insignificant and hardly makes himself clear?¹

Then why have there not been placed upon him bracelets of gold or come with him the angels in conjunction?"

So he bluffed his people, and they obeyed him. Indeed, they were [themselves] a people defiantly disobedient [of Allāh].

And when they angered Us, We took retribution from them and drowned them all.

And We made them a precedent and an example for the later peoples.

And when the son of Mary was presented as an example,¹ immediately your people laughed aloud.

And they said, "Are our gods better, or is he?"¹ They did not present it [i.e., the comparison] except for [mere] argument. But, [in fact], they are a people prone to dispute.

He [i.e., Jesus] was not but a servant upon whom We bestowed favor, and We made him an example for the Children of Israel.

And if We willed, We could have made [instead] of you angels succeeding [one another]¹ on the earth.