And We sent Messengers before thee, and We assigned to them wives, and seed; and it was not for any Messengers to bring a sign, but by God's leave. Every term has a Book. 38 Allah doth blot out or confirm what He pleaseth: with Him is the Mother of the Book. 39 Whether We show them (the unbelievers) to you facing the punishment with which We had threatened them, or make you die first (before its fulfillment), your duty is only to preach. It is up to Us to call them to account (for their deeds). 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 Those who lived before them also devised many a plot, but the master plot rests with Allah. He knows what everyone does. The deniers of the truth will soon come to know whose end is good. 42 Those who deny the truth say, "You are not God's messenger." Say, "Sufficient is God as my witness between me and you, and those who have knowledge of the Book." 43