We sent Messengers before you (Muhammad) and gave them wives and offspring. No Messenger was to show miracles without the permission of God. 38 God annuls or confirms whatever He wills [of His earlier messages] - for with Him is the source of all revelation. 39 BUT WHETHER We let thee see [in thy lifetime, O Prophet, the fulfilment of] some of what We have promised them, or whether We cause thee to die [before its fulfilment] - thy duty is no more than to deliver the message; and the reckoning is Ours. 40 Do they not see how We come to [their] land and shrink its borders? God decides, no one can reverse His decision, and He is swift in reckoning. 41 Now those who lived before these [sinners] did, too, devise many a blasphemy - but the most subtle devising is that of God, who knows what each human being deserves: and the deniers of the truth will [in time] come to know to whom the future belongs. 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