And certainly We sent apostles before you and gave them wives and children, and it is not in (the power of) an apostle to bring a sign except by Allah's permission; for every term there is an appointment. 38 Allah blots out, and He establishes what He will. With Him is the Essence of the Book. 39 Whether We let thee see something of that which We have promised them, or make thee die (before its happening), thine is but conveyance (of the message). Ours the reckoning. 40 Have, then, they [who deny the truth] never yet seen how We visit the earth [with Our punishment,] gradually depriving it of all that is best thereon? For, [when] God judges, there is no power that could repel His judgment: and swift in reckoning is He! 41 And indeed those before them had plotted; therefore Allah Himself is the Master of all strategies; He knows all what every soul earns; and soon will the disbelievers realise for whom is the final abode. 42 And those who disbelieve say: thou art not a sent one. Say thou: Allah is a sufficient witness between me and you, and also he with whom is knowledge of the Book. 43