And this, too, is a divine writ which We have bestowed from on high, a blessed one: follow it, then, and be conscious of God, so that you might be graced with His mercy. 155 Lest ye should say: the Book was only sent down to the two sects before us, and we in sooth were unaware of their readings. 156 Or (you say), 'Had the Book been sent down to us, we would have been better guided than they' Indeed a clear sign has now come to you from your Lord; a guidance and a mercy. And who is more harmful than he who belies the verses of Allah and turns away from them! We shall recompense those who turn away from Our verses with an evil punishment for their turning away. 157 What! Do they wait either for the angels to appear before them or for your Lord to come unto them or for some clear signs of your Lord to appear before them? When some clear signs of your Lord will appear, believing will be of no avail to anyone who did not believe before, or who earned no good deeds through his faith. Say: 'Wait on; we too are waiting.' 158 Surely they who divided their religion into parts and became sects, you have no concern with them; their affair is only with Allah, then He will inform them of what they did. 159 Whosoever will come with a virtue for him shall be then like thereof, and whosoever will come with a vice shall not be requited save with the like thereof; and they shall not be wronged. 160 Say, "My Lord has guided me to a straight path, and to an upright religion, the religion of Abraham the upright, who was not of those who associate partners with God." 161 Say: Lo! my worship and my sacrifice and my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the Worlds. 162 "He has no partner. And of this I have been commanded, and I am the first of the Muslims." 163 Say: What! shall I seek a Lord other than Allah? And He is the Lord of all things; and no soul earns (evil) but against itself, and no bearer of burden shall bear the burden of another; then to your Lord is your return, so He will inform you of that in which you differed. 164 It is He who made you trustees on the earth, and exalted some in rank over others in order to try you by what He has given you. Indeed your Lord's retribution is swift, yet He is forgiving and kind. 165