set forth to point to faith. No disbeliever’s disbelief is greater than his, and the Quran establishes his disbelief and his punishment in the Hereafter in several passages:

(First: His words, Most High, in Sūrat al-Qasas:

“These are two proofs from your Lord to Pharaoh and his chiefs. Indeed, they are a defiantly disobedient people.”

The passage continues as far as His words:

“We caused a curse to follow them in this world, and on the Day of Resurrection they will be among the rejected.”

He, glorified be He, states that He sent Moses to Pharaoh and his people, and that they were a defiantly disobedient people. He states that they said:

“This is nothing but fabricated magic.”

He states that Pharaoh said:

“I know of no god for you other than myself.”

He also states that Pharaoh ordered a lofty tower to be built so that he might look upon the God of Moses, and that he thought Moses was a liar. He states that Pharaoh and his soldiers were arrogant and thought that they would not return to Allah; that He seized Pharaoh and his soldiers and cast them into the sea—so consider the fate of the wrongdoers; that He made them leaders who are called to the Fire and who will not be helped on the Day of Resurrection; and that He caused a curse to follow them in this world, while on the Day of Resurrection they will be among the rejected.

This explicitly establishes that Pharaoh was among those who were defiantly disobedient, who rejected Moses, who committed wrongdoing, who called others to the Fire, who were cursed in this world after they drowned, and who will be rejected in the abode of the Hereafter.

It explicitly establishes that Pharaoh is cursed after his drowning and will be rejected in the Hereafter, with no one to help him. This describes the utmost punishment and accords with the second passage, in Sūrat al-Mu’min, namely His words:

“And a terrible punishment engulfed Pharaoh’s people.”