What! has He taken daughters out of what He himself creates, and granted to you sons for choice? 16 And if one of them hath tidings of that which he likeneth to the Beneficent One, his countenance becometh black and he is full of inward rage. 17 Is then one brought up among trinkets, and unable to give a clear account in a dispute (to be associated with Allah)? 18 And they make the angels who are the bondmen of the Compassionate females. Have they witnessed their creation? Their testimony will be written down, and they will be questioned. 19 Yet they say: "Had [not] the Most Gracious so willed, we would never have worshipped them!" [But] they cannot have any knowledge of [His having willed] such a thing: they do nothing but guess. 20 Did We give them a Scripture before this to which they are holding fast? 21 In fact, they say, "We found our fathers following a certain belief and we now follow in their footsteps for our guidance". 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 ۞ The prophet said, “What! Even if I bring to you a path better than what you found your forefathers following?”; they said, “We do not believe in whatever you have been sent with.” 24 So we took retribution from them; then see how was the end of the deniers. 25