When the decree of God is issued, satan will say, "God's promise to you was true, but I, too, made a promise to you and disregarded it. I had no authority over you. I just called you and you answered. Do not blame me but blame yourselves. I cannot help you and you cannot help me. I did not agree with your belief that I was equal to God." The unjust will face a painful punishment. 22 And those who believe and do good are made to enter gardens, beneath which rivers flow, to abide in them by their Lord's permission; their greeting therein is, Peace. 23 Hast thou not seen how God has struck a similitude? A good word is as a good tree -- its roots are firm, and its branches are in heaven; 24 Giving its fruit at every season, by the command of the Lord. And Allah propoundeth similitudes for mankind that haply they may be admonished. 25 And the example of an evil word is that of an evil tree, uprooted from the surface of the earth, wholly unable to endure. 26 Allah keeps the believers firm upon the truth in the life of this world and in the Hereafter; and Allah sends the unjust astray; and Allah may do whatever He wills. 27