And certainly We sent apostles before you and gave them wives and children, and it is not in (the power of) an apostle to bring a sign except by Allah's permission; for every term there is an appointment. 38 Allah doth blot out or confirm what He pleaseth: with Him is the Mother of the Book. 39 BUT WHETHER We let thee see [in thy lifetime, O Prophet, the fulfilment of] some of what We have promised them, or whether We cause thee to die [before its fulfilment] - thy duty is no more than to deliver the message; and the reckoning is Ours. 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 those before them had plotted, but to Allah belongs the plan entirely. He knows what every soul earns, and the disbelievers will know for whom is the final home. 42 The disbelievers say, “You are not a (Noble) Messenger (of Allah)”; proclaim, “Allah is a Sufficient Witness between me and you, and (so is) he who has knowledge of the Book.” 43