And when their destruction was due to their angering Allah and their arrogance towards His messengers, they became a reason for those who come after them to take heed from their condition. Therefore, Allah, the Most High, said: ﴿So We made them﴾ meaning by taking them in this form of drowning and other things that preceded it ﴿as a precedent﴾ for everyone who perishes after them, a destruction of wrath in the destruction in this world and punishment in the Hereafter. And as an example for whoever desires to be arrogant on the earth, so that his consequence is destruction in both abodes or one of them. Their consequence is as Allah, glorified and exalted is He, said: ﴿And We made them leaders who invite to the Fire﴾ [Al-Qasas: 41] ﴿and an example﴾ meaning a remarkable saying that is a common saying of the example ﴿for those who come after﴾ those who came after them from their time until the end of time. Their condition will be a lesson for some people and a misguidance for others. So whoever is destined to be like their condition will do like their deeds, and whoever desires salvation from what befell them will avoid their actions. So whoever is intended for good will be guided to good that will turn him away from his misguidance, and whoever is intended for evil, and is made an example by them, will dare to commit evil and will be strengthened in his wickedness and deceit. He will make the wicked person what he has been given from this world of blessings, comfort, and support an example for him in reaching it from what they were upon of oppression. And he will make the good their destruction an example for him so that he distances himself from their actions to escape from the like of their punishment. One of them might say: The people of so-and-so took [the fate of] the family of Pharaoh, meaning no person escaped from them, and similar to that from their examples in all their conditions. And we say: We destroy whoever has wronged and persisted in his wrongdoing after our warning to him, even if his family and followers are great, and he thinks his honor and immunity will protect him, like the habit of the family of Pharaoh. And whoever is intended for evil says: There is no one left on its surface if he fears the consequences, so he refrains from his desires and immerses himself in the gardens of his whims and desires and the delicious things he wants. And likewise, he himself, as happened to Pharaoh, for he did not turn back from anything regarding his leadership and reaching the end of his arrogance until he was taken away like others, whether he followed their path or not. And indeed, a people were led astray by him and led others astray, and they loosened the bonds of religion for whoever followed them, so they stumbled. And that was not enough for them until they claimed that he was among the closest, for the last of his words was faith, so what was before it was nullified, and he was not tainted after it, and he died pure and cleansed, with nothing of filth in him, even though that was only at the point of despair where there is no benefit in it. And they deceived the weak by saying: There is no clear statement in the Qur'an about his punishment after death, obscuring the decisive evidence that is consistent with His saying, the Most High: ﴿And indeed, Pharaoh was high in the earth, and indeed, he was among the transgressors﴾ [Yunus: 83] ﴿and that the transgressors are the companions of the Fire﴾ [Ghafir: 43]. It is undoubtedly concluded that Pharaoh is among the companions of the Fire. And His saying, the Most High: ﴿So We took him and his soldiers, and We threw them into the sea. So see how was the end of the wrongdoers﴾ [Al-Qasas: 40] ﴿and We made them leaders who invite to the Fire, and on the Day of Resurrection, they will not be supported﴾ [Al-Qasas: 41].

And His saying, exalted is He, "The people of Noah, 'Aad, and Pharaoh, the owner of the stakes, denied before them" [Sad: 12] until He said, "Indeed, every one denied the messengers, so the punishment was justified" [Sad: 14]. Other than that, from the clear verses and explicit indications, similarly, other than Pharaoh and his people from the righteous and the wicked, He, glorified is He, made them a precedent and an example for the later ones. So whoever intends good by them will be pleased with a similar good to follow them, and whoever intends evil by them will be led astray by a similar evil to imitate them. Indeed, Allah made 'Isa, blessings and peace be upon him, an example for the completeness of His ability to create things by means and without means. He was the most devoted of the people of his time, the most knowledgeable, the most ascetic, the closest to good, and the farthest from evil. So whoever Allah intends good for in such a matter will be guided by him, while others were led astray by him and struck for themselves examples of deities. They became pleased with what no sane person would approve of or see. Your people struck him as an example for their deities when they informed us that they had with them the fuel of Hell and were pleased with that and rejoiced, thinking that they had succeeded and triumphed.