Tell My bondmen to speak that which is kindlier. Lo! the devil soweth discord among them. Lo! the devil is for man an open foe. 53 Your Lord is the Best Knower of you; if He willeth He will have mercy upon you, or if He willeth He will torment you. And We have not sent thee over them as a trustee. 54 And your Lord knows well all those who are in the heavens and the earth; and indeed among the Prophets We gave excellence to some above others, and We gave the Zaboor to Dawud. 55 Tell them: "Call upon those whom you fancy to be (your helpers) instead of Him! They have no power to remove any affliction from you, nor can they shift it (to any other)." 56 Those whom they call upon [like 'Iesa (Jesus) - son of Maryam (Mary), 'Uzair (Ezra), angel, etc.] desire (for themselves) means of access to their Lord (Allah), as to which of them should be the nearest and they ['Iesa (Jesus), 'Uzair (Ezra), angels, etc.] hope for His Mercy and fear His Torment. Verily, the Torment of your Lord is something to be afraid of! 57 There is not a population but We shall destroy it before the Day of Judgment or punish it with a dreadful Penalty: that is written in the (eternal) Record. 58 Nothing has prevented Us from sending signs, except the fact that previous peoples denied them. We gave the people of Thamud the she-camel as a clear sign, yet they mistreated her. We give signs only by way of warning. 59 When We said to you: "Verily your Lord circumscribes mankind," and showed you the vision and the accursed tree of the Qur'an, it was as a bone of contention for men. Thus do We (instil) fear in them; but they only transgress the more. 60