But for a pre-ordained Word from your Lord, and a term [of respite] already fixed, immediate punishment would inevitably have taken place. 129 So be thou patient under what they say, and proclaim thy Lord's praise before the rising of the sun, and before its setting, and proclaim thy Lord's praise in the watches of the night, and at the ends of the day; haply thou wilt be well-pleasing. 130 Stretch not thine eyes to that We have given pairs of them to enjoy - the flower of the present life, that We may try them therein and thy Lord's provision is better, and more enduring. 131 Instruct your family to pray and to be steadfast in their worship. We do not ask any sustenance from you; it is We who give you sustenance. Know that piety will have a happy end. 132 They have said, "Why has he, (Muhammad), not brought some miracle from his Lord?" Have they not received the previously revealed heavenly Books as the evidence of the Truth. 133 Had We destroyed them with a torment before the coming of Muhammad they would have said, "Lord, would that you had sent us a Messengers so that we could have followed Your revelations before being humiliated and disgraced." 134 Say thou: everyone is on the watch; so watch, and anon ye shall know who are the fellows of the even path and who hath let himself be guided. 135