And this (the Qur’an) is the blessed Book which We have sent down; so follow it and be pious, so there may be mercy upon you. 155 [It has been given to you] lest you say: "Only unto two groups of people, [both of them] before our time, has a divine writ been bestowed from on high and we were indeed unaware of their teachings"; 156 Or lest ye should say: "If the Book had only been sent down to us, we should have followed its guidance better than they." Now then hath come unto you a clear (sign) from your Lord,- and a guide and a mercy: then who could do more wrong than one who rejecteth Allah's signs, and turneth away therefrom? In good time shall We requite those who turn away from Our signs, with a dreadful penalty, for their turning away. 157 Are they waiting to see if the angels come to them, or thy Lord (Himself), or certain of the signs of thy Lord! the day that certain of the signs of thy Lord do come, no good will it do to a soul to believe in them then if it believed not before nor earned righteousness through its faith. Say: "Wait ye: we too are waiting." 158 Have nothing to do with those who have split up their religion into sects. Their case rests with God; He will tell them about what they used to do. 159 Whosoever will come with a virtue for him shall be then like thereof, and whosoever will come with a vice shall not be requited save with the like thereof; and they shall not be wronged. 160 Tell them: "My Lord has directed me to a path that is straight, a supreme law, the creed of Abraham the upright who was not an idolater." 161 Say: 'My prayer, my ritual sacrifice, my living, my dying -- all belongs to God, the Lord of all Being. 162 No partner has He. And this I have been commanded, and I am the first [among you] of the Muslims." 163 Say: "Am I, then, to seek a sustainer other than God, when He is the Sustainer of all things?" And whatever [wrong] any human being commits rests upon himself alone; and no bearer of burdens shall be made to bear another's burden. And in time, unto your Sustainer you all must return: and then He will make you [truly] understand all that on which you were wont to differ. 164 It is He who made you trustees on the earth, and exalted some in rank over others in order to try you by what He has given you. Indeed your Lord's retribution is swift, yet He is forgiving and kind. 165