And certainly We have explained in this Quran every kind of example, and man is most of all given to contention. 54 And nothing has prevented the people from believing when guidance came to them and from asking forgiveness of their Lord except that there [must] befall them the [accustomed] precedent of the former peoples or that the punishment should come [directly] before them. 55 And We do not send the Noble Messengers except as Heralds of glad tidings and warnings; and the disbelievers debate by means of falsehood to drive away the Truth with it, and they took My signs and warnings they were given, as a mockery! 56 And who does greater evil than he who, being reminded of the signs of his Lord, turns away from them and forgets what his hands have forwarded? Surely We have laid veils on their hearts lest they understand it, and in their ears heaviness; and though thou callest them to the guidance, yet they will not be guided ever. 57 Your Lord is All-forgiving and All-merciful. Had He wanted to punish them for their sins, He would have been prompt to torment them. For their punishment there is an appointed time, after which there will be no way for them to escape. 58 As for these habitations, We destroyed them only when they transgressed; even so We had fixed a time for their annihilation. 59