Those who associate [others with God] say, "If God had so willed we would not have worshipped anything besides Him, neither we nor our fathers, nor would we have forbidden anything without His sanction." So did those who went before them. The duty of the messengers is only to convey the message clearly. 35 And indeed, within every community have We raised up an apostle [entrusted with this message]: "Worship God, and shun the powers of evil!" And among those [past generations] were people whom God graced with His guidance, just as there was among them [many a one] who inevitably fell prey to grievous error: go, then, about the earth and behold what happened in the end to those who gave the lie to the truth! 36 Though you [Prophet] may be eager to guide them, God does not guide those whom He lets go astray, [because of their refusal to give a positive response to the truth]. They will have no supporters. 37 They strongly swear by God that God will not bring the dead to life. God's promise (of the Resurrection) will certainly come true but many people do not know. 38 so that He may make clear to them that whereon they were at variance, and that the unbelievers may know that they were truly liars. 39 Our only saying unto a thing, when We intend it, is that We say unto it: be, and it becometh. 40