Has He then taken daughters out of His own creation and chosen sons for you? 16 When one of them is given the glad news of the birth of a daughter, which they believe to be the only kind of child that the Beneficent God can have, his face blackens with anger. 17 Does God choose for Himself the kind of children who grow up wearing ornaments and who are not strong enough to defend their rights? 18 They claim that angels, who are Allah's chosen servants, are females. Did they witness how their body is constituted? Their testimony shall be written and they shall be called to account. 19 The pagans say, "Had the Beneficent God wanted, we would not have worshipped them (idols)." Whatever they say is not based on knowledge. It is only a false conjecture. 20 Or have We given them a book before the Qur'an to which they are adhering? 21 No indeed! They say, "We have found our fathers following a certain course, and we are guided by their footsteps." 22 Whenever We sent a messenger before you to warn a township, the affluent among them said, in the same way, "We saw our fathers following this tradition; we are only following in their footsteps." 23 ۞ The Messengers would say, "Would you still follow in the footsteps of your fathers even if I was to bring you better guidance?" They would say, "We have no faith in your message". 24 So We took revenge from them – therefore see what sort of fate befell those who denied! 25