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 God blots out, and He establishes whatsoever He will; and with Him is the Essence of the Book. 39 (O Prophet), whether We make you see a part of the punishment that We have threatened them with come to pass during your life-time, or We take you away before that happens, your duty is no more than to convey the Message, and it is for Us to make a reckoning. 40 Have they not seen that We set upon the land, reducing it from its borders? And Allah decides; there is no adjuster of His decision. And He is swift in account. 41 Those before them did also devise plots; but in all things the master planning is God's. He knows what each soul does. Those who deny the truth shall soon know for whom is the final abode. 42 The Unbelievers say: "No messenger art thou." Say: "Enough for a witness between me and you is Allah, and such as have knowledge of the Book." 43