And if not for a word that preceded from your Lord, punishment would have been an obligation [due immediately], and [if not for] a specified term [decreed]. 129 Therefore be patient with what they say, and celebrate (constantly) the praises of thy Lord, before the rising of the sun, and before its setting; yea, celebrate them for part of the hours of the night, and at the sides of the day: that thou mayest have (spiritual) joy. 130 And O listener, do not extend your eyes towards what We have given to disbelieving couples to enjoy – the bloom of the worldly life – so that We may test them with it; and the sustenance of your Lord is the best, and more lasting. 131 And command thy household for prayer, and persevere thou therein; We ask not of thee any provision; It is We who provide thee; and the happy end is for piety. 132 They say, 'Why does he not bring us a sign from his Lord?' Has there not come to them the clear sign of what is in the former scrolls? 133 Had We destroyed them with a chastisement aforetime, they would have said, 'Our Lord, why didst Thou not send us a Messenger, so that we might have followed Thy signs before that we were humiliated and degraded?' 134 Say: "Each one (of us) is waiting: wait ye, therefore, and soon shall ye know who it is that is on the straight and even way, and who it is that has received Guidance." 135