We sent many apostles before you, and bestowed on them wives and children, but it was not for any apostle to come up with a miracle unless by the leave of God. For every age there is a law. 38 Allah blots out, and He establishes what He will. With Him is the Essence of the Book. 39 And whether We shew thee part of that which We have promised them, or We take thee away; on thee is only the preaching, and on Us is the reckoning. 40 See they not that We gradually reduce the land (in their control) from its outlying borders? (Where) Allah commands, there is none to put back His Command: and He is swift in calling to account. 41 And verily, those before them did devise plots, but all planning is Allah's. He knows what every person earns, and the disbelievers will know who gets the good end (final destination). 42 The unbelievers claim that you have not been sent by Allah. Tell them: "Allah is sufficient as a witness between me and you; and so also do those who know the Scriptures." 43