And We have already sent messengers before you and assigned to them wives and descendants. And it was not for a messenger to come with a sign except by permission of Allah. For every term is a decree. 38 Allah doth blot out or confirm what He pleaseth: with Him is the Mother of the Book. 39 And whether We shew thee part of that which We have promised them, or We take thee away; on thee is only the preaching, and on Us is the reckoning. 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 who were before them plotted; but all plotting is Allah's. He knoweth that which each soul earneth. The disbelievers will come to know for whom will be the sequel of the (heavenly) Home. 42 And [if] they who are bent on denying the truth say [unto thee, O Prophet,] "Thou hast not been sent [by God]", say thou: "None can bear witness between me and you as God does; and [none can bear witness as does] he who truly understands this divine writ. 43