And when your Lord brought forth from the children of Adam, from their backs, their descendants, and made them bear witness against their own souls: Am I not your Lord? They said: Yes! we bear witness. Lest you should say on the day of resurrection: Surely we were heedless of this. 172 Or you may say, “It is our ancestors who first ascribed partners (to Allah) and we were (their) children after them; so will You destroy us on account of the deeds of the followers of falsehood?” 173 Thus do We explain Our revelations so that they might return to (the right path). 174 Relate to them the plight of the man whom We gave Our signs, but he passed them by, so that Satan came after him, and he went astray. 175 Now had We so willed, We could indeed have exalted him by means of those [messages]: but he always clung to the earth and followed but his own desires. Thus, his parable is that of an [excited] dog: if thou approach him threateningly, he will pant with his tongue lolling; and if thou leave him alone, he will pant with his tongue lolling. Such is the parable of those who are bent on giving the lie to Our messages. Tell [them,] then, this story, so that they might take thought. 176 What an evil example is of those who denied Our signs and used to wrong only their own souls. 177 Whomsoever Allah guideth, he is the rightly guided: and whomsoever He sendeth astray - those! they are the losers. 178 We have destined many men and jinn for hell. They have hearts but do not understand, eyes but do not see. They have ears but do not hear. They are worse than lost cattle. These are the heedless ones. 179 The most beautiful names belong to Allah: so call on him by them; but shun such men as use profanity in his names: for what they do, they will soon be requited. 180 Of those We have created are people who direct (others) with truth. And dispense justice therewith. 181