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 eliminates what He wills or confirms, and with Him is the Mother of the Book. 39 Whether We allow you to see (the punishment) We have promised them, or end your life before (its execution), it is certainly for you to convey the message; the reckoning is for Us to do. 40 Do they not see Us advancing from all sides into their land and reducing its frontiers? It is for God to judge; and there is none to reverse His judgement. He is swift at reckoning. 41 And those before them did indeed make plans, but all planning is Allah's; He knows what every soul earns, and the unbelievers shall come to know for whom is the (better) issue of the abode. 42 The unbelievers say, 'Thou art not an Envoy.' Say: 'God suffices as a witness between me and you, and whosoever possesses knowledge of the Book.' 43