Or chooseth He daughters of all that He hath created, and honoureth He you with sons? 16 And when one of them is given good tidings of that which he attributes to the Most Merciful in comparison, his face becomes dark, and he suppresses grief. 17 (As such they attribute to Allah) who is brought up among ornaments but when disputes arise are powerless. 18 And they appoint the angels, who are the bondmen of the Most Gracious, as females; were they present at the time of the angels’ creation? Their declaration will be now 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 Have We given them a Book before this, to which they are holding fast? 21 Nay, for they say only: Lo! we found our fathers following a religion, and we are guided by their footprints. 22 And thus it is: whenever We sent any warner to a city its affluent ones said: “We found our forefathers on a way and we continue to follow in their footsteps.” 23 ۞ Say: 'What, though I should bring you a better guidance than you found your fathers upon?' They say, 'We disbelieve in that you were sent with.' 24 So We exacted retribution from them: now see what was the end of those who rejected (Truth)! 25