Or has He taken from those He has created daughters for Himself, and assigned sons to you? 16 When any of them is given the news of the very thing [i.e. a female child] which he himself has ascribed to the All Merciful, his face darkens and he is filled with grief -- 17 ["Do you ascribe to God] one who is brought up among ornaments and who cannot produce a cogent argument?" 18 And they make the angels who themselves are slaves to the Most Beneficent (Allah) females. Did they witness their creation? Their evidence will be recorded, and they will be questioned! 19 Yet they say: "Had [not] the Most Gracious so willed, we would never have worshipped them!" [But] they cannot have any knowledge of [His having willed] such a thing: they do nothing but guess. 20 What! have We given them a Book before this, to which they are holding fast? 21 Nay! they say: We found our fathers on a course, and surely we are guided by their footsteps. 22 As such, We never sent a warner before you to a village, except those living in luxury said: 'We found our fathers following a creed, and by following in their footsteps we are guided' 23 ۞ Each messenger said, "What if I should bring you better guidance than what you found your forefathers had?" They replied, "We reject any message you have been sent with!" 24 So We inflicted retribution on them, then see how was the end of the rejecters. 25