And when Abraham said unto his father and his folk: Lo! I am innocent of what ye worship 26 None [do I worship] but Him who has brought me into being: and behold, it is He who will guide me!" 27 And he made it a word lasting among his posterity that haply they should return. 28 Now [as for those who did come after him,] I allowed them - as [I had allowed] their forebears - to enjoy their lives freely until the truth should come unto them through an apostle who would make all things clear: 29 But when the truth came to them, they said: 'This is sorcery, we disbelieve in it' 30 And they said, “Why was the Qur’an not sent down upon some chieftain of these two great towns?” (The chiefs of Mecca and Taif). 31 Is it they who apportion thy Lord's mercy? We have apportioned among them their livelihood in the life of the world, and raised some of them above others in rank that some of them may take labour from others; and the mercy of thy Lord is better than (the wealth) that they amass. 32 And if it were not that the people would become one community [of disbelievers], We would have made for those who disbelieve in the Most Merciful - for their houses - ceilings and stairways of silver upon which to mount 33 And doors (of silver) for their houses, (silver) couches for reclining, 34 And ornaments of gold. Yet all that would have been but a provision of the life of the world. And the Hereafter with your Lord would have been for those who keep from evil. 35