AND WHENEVER thy Sustainer brings forth their offspring from the loins of the children of Adam, He [thus] calls upon them to bear witness about themselves: "Am I not your Sustainer?" - to which they answer: "Yea, indeed, we do bear witness thereto!" [Of this We remind you,] lest you say on the Day of Resurrection, "Verily, we were unaware of this"; 172 Or, lest they should say: "It were our fathers who had ascribed compeers to God; we are only their offspring. Will You destroy us for the deeds of those who dealt in vanities?" 173 As such We make plain Our verses in order that they return. 174 And recite to them the tiding of him to whom We gave Our signs, but he cast them off; and Satan followed after him, and he became one of the perverts. 175 Now had We so willed, We could indeed have exalted him by means of those [messages]: but he always clung to the earth and followed but his own desires. Thus, his parable is that of an [excited] dog: if thou approach him threateningly, he will pant with his tongue lolling; and if thou leave him alone, he will pant with his tongue lolling. Such is the parable of those who are bent on giving the lie to Our messages. Tell [them,] then, this story, so that they might take thought. 176 Vile is the likeness of the people who belie Our signs, and their own souls they are wont to wrong. 177 Whom Allah doth guide,- he is on the right path: whom He rejects from His guidance,- such are the persons who perish. 178 And We have certainly created for Hell many of the jinn and mankind. They have hearts with which they do not understand, they have eyes with which they do not see, and they have ears with which they do not hear. Those are like livestock; rather, they are more astray. It is they who are the heedless. 179 Allah has the most excellent names. So call on Him by His names and shun those who distort them. They shall soon be requited for their deeds. 180 Among those whom We created there is a nation who guide with the truth and with it they are just. 181