Has God chosen some of His own creatures as daughters for Himself and has given you the preference of having sons? 16 When any of them is given the news of the very thing [i.e. a female child] which he himself has ascribed to the All Merciful, his face darkens and he is filled with grief -- 17 Do they assign to Allah one who grows up amidst ornaments and is not well-versed in the art of disputation? 18 And [yet] they claim that the angels - who in themselves are but beings created by the Most Gracious - are females: [but] did they witness their creation? This false claim of theirs will be recorded, and they will be called to account [for it on Judgment Day]! 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 Or have We given them any scripture before (this Qur'an) so that they are holding fast thereto? 21 No, but they say: 'We found our fathers following a creed, and by following in their footsteps we are guided. 22 And thus it is: whenever We sent, before thy time, a warner to any community, those of its people who had lost themselves entirely in the pursuit of pleasures would always say: "Behold, we found our forefathers agreed on what to believe - and verily, it is but in their footsteps that we follow!" 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 And so We inflicted Our retribution on them: and behold what happened in the end to those who gave the lie to the truth! 25