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 What, one who is reared amid ornaments and, when the time of altercation comes, is not to be seen? 18 And they make into females angels who themselves serve Allah. Did they witness their creation? Their evidence will be recorded, and they will be called to account! 19 They say: 'Had it been the will of the Merciful, we would never have worshipped them' Of this they have no knowledge, they are but guessing. 20 Or did We bestow upon them a Book before on whose authority they are holding on (to angel-worship)? 21 Rather they said, “We found our forefathers upon a religion, and we are following their footsteps.” 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 ۞ Each messenger said, "What if I should bring you better guidance than what you found your forefathers had?" They replied, "We reject any message you have been 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