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 knows you best, if He will, He will have mercy on you, or if He will, He will punish you. And We have not sent you (O Muhammad SAW) as a guardian over them. 54 And your Lord best knows those who are in the heavens and the earth; and certainly We have made some of the prophets to excel others, and to Dawood We gave a scripture. 55 Say: "Call those whom you imagine to be gods besides Him; yet they have no power to relieve you of any distress or to avert it." 56 Those they invoke themselves seek the way to their Lord, (striving) which one of them shall be nearest (to Him); and hope for His grace, and dread His punishment. Indeed, the punishment of your Lord is to be feared! 57 The decree that all the towns were to be destroyed or afflicted with severe punishment was already written in the Book before the Day of Judgment. 58 Nothing hindered Us from sending Our Signs except that the people of olden times rejected them as lies. We publicly sent the she-camel to the Thamud to open their eyes but they wronged her. We never send Our Signs except to cause people to fear. 59 And when We proclaimed to you, “Indeed all mankind is within the control of your Lord”; and We did not create the spectacle* which We showed you except to try mankind, and the Tree** which is cursed in the Qur’an; and We warn them – so nothing increases for them except extreme rebellion. (* The Ascent of the Holy Prophet to the heavens and beyond, which the disbelievers denied as just a dream. ** The Zakkum tree which will grow in hell and be the food for its inhabitants.) 60