Hath He taken for Himself from whatsoever He hath created daughters, and hath honoured you with sons. 16 And when any of them is given the good tidings of that he has likened to the All-merciful, his face is darkened, and he chokes inwardly. 17 (As such they attribute to Allah) who is brought up among ornaments but when disputes arise are powerless. 18 And they make the angels who themselves are slaves to the Most Beneficent (Allah) females. Did they witness their creation? Their evidence will be recorded, and they will be questioned! 19 They say: “Had the Merciful One so willed, we would never have worshipped these deities.” But they have no knowledge of the matter and are simply conjecturing. 20 Or have We, perchance, vouchsafed them, before this one, a revelation [to the contrary,] to which they are still holding fast? 21 Rather, they say, "Indeed, we found our fathers upon a religion, and we are in their footsteps [rightly] guided." 22 And thus, We did not send before you any warner in a town, but those who led easy lives in it said: Surely we found our fathers on a course, and surely we are followers of their footsteps. 23 ۞ The Messengers would say, "Would you still follow in the footsteps of your fathers even if I was to bring you better guidance?" They would say, "We have no faith in your message". 24 So we took retribution from them; then see how was the end of the deniers. 25