ART THOU NOT aware of that [king] who argued with Abraham about his Sustainer, [simply] because God had granted him kingship? Lo! Abraham said: "My Sustainer is He who grants life and deals death." [The king] replied: "I [too] grant life and deal death!" Said Abraham: "Verily, God causes the sun to rise in the east; cause it, then, to rise in the west!" Thereupon he who was bent on denying the truth remained dumbfounded: for God does not guide people who [deliberately] do wrong. 258 Or take the man who passed by a town which lay destroyed upside down. He said: "How can God restore this city now that it is destroyed?" So God made him die for a hundred years, then brought him back to life, and inquired: "How long did you stay in this state?" "A day or less than a day," he replied. "No," He said, "you were dead a hundred years, yet look at your victuals, they have not decomposed; and look at your ass! We shall make you a warning for men. And regard the bones, how We raise them and clothe them with flesh." When this became clear to him, the man said: "Indeed God has power over all things." 259 Call to mind the other event also, when Abraham said, "My Lord, show me how Thou bringest the dead back to life?" He said "Have you no faith in this?" Abraham humbly replied, "I do believe but I ask this to reassure my heart." Allah said, "Well, take four birds and tame them with yourself and then (cut them into pieces) and place a piece of each of them on each hill. Then call them and they will come running to you; know this for certain that Allah is All-Powerful, All-Wise." 260