AND TELL My servants that they should speak in the most kindly manner [unto those who do not share their beliefs]: verily, Satan is always ready to stir up discord between men - for, verily, Satan is man's open foe! 53 It is your Lord that knoweth you best: If He please, He granteth you mercy, or if He please, punishment: We have not sent thee to be a disposer of their affairs for them. 54 Your Lord knows all who dwell in the heavens and the earth. We have exalted some Prophets over others, and We gave the Psalms to David. 55 (Muhammad), tell them, "Seek help from those whom you consider equal to God. They are not able to remove or change your hardships". 56 Those they invoke themselves seek the way to their Lord, (striving) which one of them shall be nearest (to Him); and hope for His grace, and dread His punishment. Indeed, the punishment of your Lord is to be feared! 57 There is no village except that it shall be destroyed or that We will punish it with a stern punishment before the Day of Resurrection. That is inscribed in the Book. 58 Naught hindereth Us from sending portents save that the folk of old denied them. And We gave Thamud the she-camel - a clear portent save to warn. 59 When We said to you: "Verily your Lord circumscribes mankind," and showed you the vision and the accursed tree of the Qur'an, it was as a bone of contention for men. Thus do We (instil) fear in them; but they only transgress the more. 60