Those who associate others with Allah in His Divinity say: "Were Allah to will so, neither we nor our forefathers would have worshipped any other than Him, nor would we have prohibited anything without His command." Their predecessors proffered similar excuses. Do the Messengers have any other duty but to plainly convey the Message? 35 We raised a Messenger in every community (to tell them): "Serve Allah and shun the Evil One." Thereafter Allah guided some of them while others were overtaken by error. Go about the earth, then, and observe what was the end of those who rejected the Messengers, calling them liars. 36 [Even] if you should strive for their guidance, [O Muhammad], indeed, Allah does not guide those He sends astray, and they will have no helpers. 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 (Through the resurrection) God wants to make a clear distinction between right and wrong and make the unbelievers know that they were liars. 39 When We want to bring something into existence, Our command is, "Exist," and it comes into existence. 40