And assuredly We sent apostles before thee and We made for them wives and progeny, and it is not for an apostle to produce a verse except by the command of Allah; for every time there is a Book. 38 Allah effaces whatever He wills and retains whatever He wills. With Him is the Mother of the Book. 39 Whether We allow you to see (the punishment) We have promised them, or end your life before (its execution), it is certainly for you to convey the message; the reckoning is for Us to do. 40 See they not that We gradually reduce the land (of disbelievers, by giving it to the believers, in war victories) from its outlying borders. And Allah judges, there is none to put back His Judgement and He is Swift at reckoning. 41 Those that were before them devised; but God's is the devising altogether. He knows what every soul earns. The unbelievers shall assuredly know whose will be the Ultimate Abode. 42 Yet those who are disbelievers say: "You are not the apostle sent (by God)." Tell them: "God is sufficient as witness between me and you, and he who has knowledge of the Book." 43