Those who associate [others with God] say, "If God had so willed we would not have worshipped anything besides Him, neither we nor our fathers, nor would we have forbidden anything without His sanction." So did those who went before them. The duty of the messengers is only to convey the message clearly. 35 And certainly We raised in every nation an apostle saying: Serve Allah and shun the Shaitan. So there were some of them whom Allah guided and there were others against whom error was due; therefore travel in the land, then see what was the end of the rejecters. 36 If thou art anxious for their guidance, yet Allah guideth not such as He leaves to stray, and there is none to help them. 37 They swear their strongest oaths by God that God will never raise the dead to life -- nonetheless, it is a promise truly binding on Him, even though most people do not realize it -- 38 so that He may make clear to them that whereon they were at variance, and that the unbelievers may know that they were truly liars. 39 When We want to bring something into existence, Our command is, "Exist," and it comes into existence. 40