And We have already sent messengers before you and assigned to them wives and descendants. And it was not for a messenger to come with a sign except by permission of Allah. For every term is a decree. 38 Allah effaces whatever He wills and retains whatever He wills. With Him is the Mother of the Book. 39 And We will either let you see part of what We threaten them with or cause you to die, for only the delivery of the message is (incumbent) on you, while calling (them) to account is Our (business). 40 Have, then, they [who deny the truth] never yet seen how We visit the earth [with Our punishment,] gradually depriving it of all that is best thereon? For, [when] God judges, there is no power that could repel His judgment: and swift in reckoning is He! 41 Those who lived before them also devised many a plot, but the master plot rests with Allah. He knows what everyone does. The deniers of the truth will soon come to know whose end is good. 42 Those who disbelieve say: 'You are not a Messenger' Say: 'Allah is a Sufficient witness between me and you, and whosoever possess knowledge of the Book' 43