AND WHENEVER thy Sustainer brings forth their offspring from the loins of the children of Adam, He [thus] calls upon them to bear witness about themselves: "Am I not your Sustainer?" - to which they answer: "Yea, indeed, we do bear witness thereto!" [Of this We remind you,] lest you say on the Day of Resurrection, "Verily, we were unaware of this"; 172 Or lest ye should say: it was only our fathers who associated afore, and we have been a posterity after them; wilt Thou then destroy us for that which the followers of falsehood did? 173 Thus do We explain Our revelations so that they might return to (the right path). 174 And recite to them the tiding of him to whom We gave Our signs, but he cast them off; and Satan followed after him, and he became one of the perverts. 175 And if We had willed, we could have elevated him thereby, but he adhered [instead] to the earth and followed his own desire. So his example is like that of the dog: if you chase him, he pants, or if you leave him, he [still] pants. That is the example of the people who denied Our signs. So relate the stories that perhaps they will give thought. 176 Evil as an example are the folk who denied Our revelations, and were wont to wrong themselves. 177 Whomsoever Allah guides, he is the one who follows the right way; and whomsoever He causes to err, these are the losers. 178 And most certainly have We destined for hell many of the invisible beings and men who have hearts with which they fail to grasp the truth, and eyes with which they fail to see, and ears with which they fail to hear. They are like cattle - nay, they are even less conscious of the right way: it is they, they who are the [truly] heedless! 179 The most beautiful names belong to Allah: so call on him by them; but shun such men as use profanity in his names: for what they do, they will soon be requited. 180 And of those whom We have created there is a community guiding others with truth and acting justly according thereto. 181