riches," he pleaded. "I have a palace on the
Bosphorus, beneath which the rivers flow."

6 The angel replied: "No ransom shall be accepted from thee on this day,
even shouldst thou offer up all things visible and invisible. Hearest thou
not the sighs of the kindred of God, whom thou didst cast into prison
without proof or testimony? Thy deed hath provoked the lamentation of the
inmates of Paradise, and of those who circle morn and eve round the Throne
on high. The wrath of thy Lord hath descended upon thee, and stern is He
in His chastisement!"(77)

7 He made reply: "I held command over the people, and here is the mandate
of my authority."

8 "Hold thy peace, O denier of the Day of Judgement!"(78)

9 He implored: "Is no respite possible so that I may send for my family?"

10 "Far from it, O disbeliever in the verses of God!"

11 Thereupon the keepers of the fathomless abyss called unto him: "The
gates of Hell have opened wide to receive thee, O thou who hast turned
away from thy Lord, the Unconstrained! Repair unto its fire, for it
yearneth after thee. Hast thou forgotten, O rejected one, when thou wert
the Nimrod of the age, how thy tyranny eclipsed the very cruelties of
Pharaoh, the Lord of the Stakes?(79) By God! Thine iniquity hath rent
asunder the veil of sanctity and caused the pillars of heaven to tremble.
Where canst thou find refuge now? Who shall protect thee from the dreadful
scourge of thy Lord, the All-Compelling? There is no haven for thee in
this Day, O ungodly doubter!" Whereupon the agony of death seized him and
he saw no more. Thus did We lay hold on him in Our wrathful anger, and
severe is thy Lord in His punishment.

12 Then an angel from the right hand of the Throne summoned him: "Behold
the angel of affliction. Is there any place to flee to save hell, wherein
the heart(80) boileth?" And the angel of chastisement received his spirit,
and a voice proclaimed: "Enter the bottomless pit which hath been promised
in the Book, and whose existence thou didst day and night deny!"

13 Soon will We dismiss the one who was like unto him,(81) and will lay
hold on their Chief who ruleth the land,(82) and I, verily, am the
Almighty, the All-Compelling. Be thou steadfast in the Cause of God and
extol thy Lord morn and eve. Suffer not the light of thy soul to be
quenched by the calumnies of the one who was so blinded by Our bestowals
as to turn away from God, the Lord of all names. He inspireth his devoted
f