And [remember the time] when your Sustainer made [this promise] known: 'If you are grateful [to Me,] I shall most certainly give you more and more; but if you are ungrateful, verily, My chastisement will be severe indeed!"' 7 And Moses said: 'If you and all mankind are thankless, He is surely Rich, Praised' 8 HAVE THE STORIES of those [deniers of the truth] who lived before you never yet come within your ken - [the stories of] the people of Noah, and of [the tribes of] 'Ad and Thamud, and of those who came after them? None knows them [now] save God. There came unto them their apostles with all evidence of the truth - but they covered their mouths with their hands and answered: "Behold, we refuse to regard as true the message with which you [claim to] have been entrusted; and behold, we are in grave doubt, amounting to suspicion, about [the meaning of] your call to us!" 9 ۞ Their messengers said, "Is there any doubt about God, the Originator of the heavens and earth? He calls you to Him in order to forgive you some of your offences and to reprieve you for a specific period." They said, "You are only human beings like ourselves! You want to divert us from what our forefathers have been worshipping, so bring us some clear authority." 10 Their Messengers said to them: 'We are nothing except humans like you. But Allah bestows His Mercy on those of His worshipers whom He chooses. We cannot give you proof, except with the permission of Allah. In Allah, let believers put their trust. 11 And what reason have we that we should not rely on Allah? And He has indeed guided us in our ways; and certainly we would bear with patience your persecution of us; and on Allah should the reliant rely. 12