(Before this,) We sent Moses The Book, and appointed his brother Aaron with him as minister; 35 and We said, 'Go to the people who have cried lies to Our signs'; then We destroyed them utterly. 36 The same was the case with the people of Noah when they charged the Messenger with imposture: We drowned them and made them a sign of warning for entire mankind, and We have prepared a painful chastisement for the unjust. 37 (As for) 'Ad, Thamud and the people of ar-Rass, and many generations in between them, 38 And unto each! We propounded similitude thereunto; and each We ruined an utter ruin. 39 And they [who now deny Our messages] must surely have come across that town which was rained upon by a rain of evil: have they, then, never beheld it [with their minds eye]? But nay, they would not believe in resurrection! 40 And when they see you, they do not take you for aught but a mockery: Is this he whom Allah has raised to be an apostle? 41 Indeed, he would well-nigh have led us astray from our deities, had we not been [so] steadfastly attached to them!" When they behold the punishment, they shall realize who strayed furthest from the right path. 42 How can you be the guardian of those who have chosen their own desires as their Lord? 43 Or do you think that most of them hear or understand something? They are not but like the cattle – in fact more astray from the path than them! 44