And [mention, O Muhammad], when Abraham said to his father and his people, "Indeed, I am disassociated from that which you worship 26 except Him who originated me, for He will guide me' 27 And he made it a word lasting among his posterity that haply they should return. 28 Now [as for those who did come after him,] I allowed them - as [I had allowed] their forebears - to enjoy their lives freely until the truth should come unto them through an apostle who would make all things clear: 29 Yet when the truth had come to them, they said: "This is sorcery. We shall never believe in it." 30 They say, 'Why was this Koran not sent down upon some man of moment in the two cities?' 31 Is it they who apportion the mercy of your Lord? It is We who distribute among them their livelihood in the life of this world, and raise some of them above others in rank, so that they may take one another into service; and the mercy of your Lord is better than [the wealth] which they amass. 32 If it were not that all mankind might have become one community [of disbelievers], We could have given all those who deny the Lord of Mercy, houses with roofs of silver, silver staircases to ascend, 33 And the doors of their houses and the couches on which they recline, 34 or that they be made of gold. Surely all this is only the enjoyment of the life of the world. But (true prosperity) in the Hereafter with Your Lord is only for the God-fearing. 35