And this, too, is a divine writ which We have bestowed from on high, a blessed one: follow it, then, and be conscious of God, so that you might be graced with His mercy. 155 and will not say that the Book was revealed only to two groups of people before you, or that you were ignorant of its knowledge, 156 or lest you say, 'If the Book had been sent down upon us, we had surely been more rightly guided than they.' Yet indeed a clear sign has come to you from your Lord, and a guidance and a mercy; and who does greater evil than he who cries lies to God's signs, and turns away from them? We shall surely recompense those who turn away from Our signs with an evil chastisement for their turning away. 157 Do they then wait for anything other than that the angels should come to them, or that your Lord should come, or that some of the Signs of your Lord should come (i.e. portents of the Hour e.g., arising of the sun from the west)! The day that some of the Signs of your Lord do come, no good will it do to a person to believe then, if he believed not before, nor earned good (by performing deeds of righteousness) through his Faith. Say: "Wait you! we (too) are waiting." 158 VERILY, as for those who have broken the unity of their faith and have become sects - thou hast nothing to do with them. Behold, their case rests with God: and in time He will make them understand what they were doing. 159 Whosoever will come with a virtue for him shall be then like thereof, and whosoever will come with a vice shall not be requited save with the like thereof; and they shall not be wronged. 160 Say, "My Lord has guided me to a straight path, and to an upright religion, the religion of Abraham the upright, who was not of those who associate partners with God." 161 Say, "My prayer and my sacrifice and my life and my death are all for God, the Lord of the worlds; 162 No associate hath He. And to this I am bidden, and I am the first of the Muslims. 163 Say, "Shall I seek a lord other than God, while He is the Lord of all things?" Everyone must bear the consequence of what he does, and no bearer of a burden can bear the burden of another. Then to your Lord you will return, and He will inform you of what you used to dispute about. 164 It is He who has made you caliphs in the earth and raised some of you in rank above others, so that He might try you in what He has given you. Swift is your Lord in retribution; yet He is Forgiving, Merciful. 165