۞ Had God been as hasty to punish people as they were hasty to achieve good, their life would have already ended. We will leave those who have no hope of receiving Our mercy, in the life hereafter, to continue blindly in their transgression. 11 When trouble toucheth a man, He crieth unto Us (in all postures)- lying down on his side, or sitting, or standing. But when We have solved his trouble, he passeth on his way as if he had never cried to Us for a trouble that touched him! thus do the deeds of transgressors seem fair in their eyes! 12 And indeed, We destroyed before your time [whole] generations when they [persistently] did evil although the apostles sent unto them brought them all evidence of the truth; for they refused to believe [them]. Thus do We requite people who are lost in sin. 13 Then We made you heirs in the land after them, to see how ye would behave! 14 AND [thus it is:] whenever Our messages are conveyed unto them in all their clarity, those who do not believe that they are destined to meet Us [are wont to] say: "Bring us a discourse other than this, or alter this one." Say [O Prophet]: "It is not conceivable that I should alter it of my own volition; I only follow what is revealed to me. Behold, I would dread, were I [thus] to rebel against my Sustainer, the suffering [which would befall me] on that awesome Day [of Judgment]!" 15 Say (O Muhammad SAW): "If Allah had so willed, I should not have recited it to you nor would He have made it known to you. Verily, I have stayed amongst you a life time before this. Have you then no sense?" 16 And who does greater evil than he who forges against God a lie, or cries lies to His signs? Surely the sinners do not prosper. 17 Instead of God they worship what neither harms nor benefits them, and they say: "These are our intercessors with God." Say, "Do you inform God about something in heavens and on earth that He does not know? Glory be to Him; may He be Exalted over whatever they associate [with Him]!" 18 And people are naught but a single nation, so they disagree; and had not a word already gone forth from your Lord, the matter would have certainly been decided between them in respect of that concerning which they disagree. 19 NOW THEY [who deny the truth] are wont to ask, "Why has no miraculous sign ever been bestowed upon him from on high by his Sustainer?" Say, then: "God's alone is the knowledge of that which is beyond the reach of human perception. Wait, then, [until His will becomes manifest:] verily, I shall wait with you!" 20