Or has He taken to Himself, from that He creates, daughters, and favoured you with sons? 16 And if one of them is informed of the news of (the birth of) that which he set forth as a parable to the Most Beneficent (Allah) (i.e. of a girl), his face becomes dark, gloomy, and he is filled with grief! 17 Hath He taken to Himself that which is reared in ornaments, and is in contention not plain? 18 And they make the angels, who are the slaves of the Beneficent, females. Did they witness their creation? Their testimony will be recorded and they will be questioned. 19 And they say: If the Beneficent Allah had pleased, we should never have worshipped them. They have no knowledge of this; they only lie. 20 What! have We given them a Book before this, to which they are holding fast? 21 Rather, they say, "Indeed, we found our fathers upon a religion, and we are in their footsteps [rightly] guided." 22 And thus it is: whenever We sent, before thy time, a warner to any community, those of its people who had lost themselves entirely in the pursuit of pleasures would always say: "Behold, we found our forefathers agreed on what to believe - and verily, it is but in their footsteps that we follow!" 23 ۞ The Messengers would say, "Would you still follow in the footsteps of your fathers even if I was to bring you better guidance?" They would say, "We have no faith in your message". 24 So We took revenge from them – therefore see what sort of fate befell those who denied! 25