Or chooseth He daughters of all that He hath created, and honoureth He you with sons? 16 When one of them is given the glad news of the birth of a daughter, which they believe to be the only kind of child that the Beneficent God can have, his face blackens with anger. 17 (As such they attribute to Allah) who is brought up among ornaments but when disputes arise are powerless. 18 And they make the angels who themselves are slaves to the Most Beneficent (Allah) females. Did they witness their creation? Their evidence will be recorded, and they will be questioned! 19 They say, "If the All Merciful had so willed, we would not have worshipped them." They have no knowledge of that. They are only conjecturing. 20 Did We give them a Scripture before this to which they are holding fast? 21 No, but they say: 'We found our fathers following a creed, and by following in their footsteps we are guided. 22 And similarly, whenever We sent a Herald of Warning before you (O dear Prophet Mohammed – peace and blessings be upon him) into any town, its wealthy people said, “We found our forefathers upon a religion, and we are behind their footsteps.” 23 ۞ The prophet said, “What! Even if I bring to you a path better than what you found your forefathers following?”; they said, “We do not believe in whatever you have been sent with.” 24 Then We punished them. So look at the fate of those who denied. 25