Tell My bondmen to speak that which is kindlier. Lo! the devil soweth discord among them. Lo! the devil is for man an open foe. 53 Your Lord knows you well; if He wills He may have mercy upon you, or if He wills, He may punish you; and We have not sent you (O dear Prophet Mohammed – peace and blessings be upon him) as a guardian over them. 54 And thy Lord knows very well all who are in the heavens and the earth; and We have preferred some Prophets over others; and We gave to David Psalms. 55 (Muhammad), tell them, "Seek help from those whom you consider equal to God. They are not able to remove or change your hardships". 56 The devoted bondmen whom these disbelievers worship, themselves seek the means of proximity from their Lord, that who among them is the closest (to his Lord), and hope for His mercy and fear His punishment; indeed the punishment of your Lord is to be feared. 57 there is not a town [community] but We shall destroy or sternly punish it before the Day of Judgement. That is recorded in the Book. 58 And nothing has prevented Us from sending [this message, like the earlier ones,] with miraculous signs [in its wake,] save [Our knowledge] that the people of olden times [only too often] gave the lie to them: thus, We provided for [the tribe of] Thamud the she-camel as a light-giving portent, and they sinned against it. And never did We send those signs for any other purpose than to convey a warning. 59 And when We proclaimed to you, “Indeed all mankind is within the control of your Lord”; and We did not create the spectacle* which We showed you except to try mankind, and the Tree** which is cursed in the Qur’an; and We warn them – so nothing increases for them except extreme rebellion. (* The Ascent of the Holy Prophet to the heavens and beyond, which the disbelievers denied as just a dream. ** The Zakkum tree which will grow in hell and be the food for its inhabitants.) 60