Tell My bondmen to speak that which is kindlier. Lo! the devil soweth discord among them. Lo! the devil is for man an open foe. 53 Your Lord knows you very well; if He will, He will have mercy on you, or, if He will, He will chastise you. We sent thee not to be a guardian over them. 54 Your Lord knows very well all who are in the heavens and the earth. We have preferred some Prophets above others, and to David We gave the Psalms. 55 SAY: "Call upon those [beings] whom you imagine [to be endowed with divine powers] beside Him and [you will find that] they have it not in their power to remove any affliction from you, or to shift it [elsewhere]." 56 Those whom they invoke seek means of access to their Lord, [striving as to] which of them would be nearest, and they hope for His mercy and fear His punishment. Indeed, the punishment of your Lord is ever feared. 57 There is not a population but We shall destroy it before the Day of Judgment or punish it with a dreadful Penalty: that is written in the (eternal) Record. 58 We did not abstain from sending miracles to any of Our Messengers. These miracles were called lies by the people who lived in ancient times. To the people of Thamud, We sent the she-camel as a visible miracle and they did injustice to it. We only send miracles as warnings. 59 And recall when We said to you, (O Muhammad), that your Lord encompasses these people; and that We have made that vision that We have shown you, and the tree accursed in the Qur'an, but as a trial for people. We go about warning them, but each warning leads them to greater transgression. 60