Remember also the time when your Lord declared, 'If you are grateful, I will surely bestow more favours on you; but if you are ungrateful, then know that My punishment is severe indeed.'" 7 And Moses said: 'If you and all mankind are thankless, He is surely Rich, Praised' 8 HAVE THE STORIES of those [deniers of the truth] who lived before you never yet come within your ken - [the stories of] the people of Noah, and of [the tribes of] 'Ad and Thamud, and of those who came after them? None knows them [now] save God. There came unto them their apostles with all evidence of the truth - but they covered their mouths with their hands and answered: "Behold, we refuse to regard as true the message with which you [claim to] have been entrusted; and behold, we are in grave doubt, amounting to suspicion, about [the meaning of] your call to us!" 9 ۞ Their messengers said: "Is there a doubt about Allah, The Creator of the heavens and the earth? It is He Who invites you, in order that He may forgive you your sins and give you respite for a term appointed!" They said: "Ah! ye are no more than human, like ourselves! Ye wish to turn us away from the (gods) our fathers used to worship: then bring us some clear authority." 10 Their Messengers said to them: 'We are nothing except humans like you. But Allah bestows His Mercy on those of His worshipers whom He chooses. We cannot give you proof, except with the permission of Allah. In Allah, let believers put their trust. 11 And what reason have we that we should not rely on Allah? And He has indeed guided us in our ways; and certainly we would bear with patience your persecution of us; and on Allah should the reliant rely. 12