Or has He taken to Himself, from that He creates, daughters, and favoured you with sons? 16 (They believe so although when) any of them is given tidings of the birth of a female child the like of which he assigns to the Merciful One, his countenance darkens and he is choked with grief. 17 (As such they attribute to Allah) who is brought up among ornaments but when disputes arise are powerless. 18 They claim that the angels, who are themselves the worshipers of the Merciful, are females. Did they witness their creation! Their witness shall be written down and they shall be questioned. 19 Yet they say: "Had [not] the Most Gracious so willed, we would never have worshipped them!" [But] they cannot have any knowledge of [His having willed] such a thing: they do nothing but guess. 20 Had We, before sending the Quran, given them a book to which they now refer as an authority? 21 Nay! they say: We found our fathers on a course, and surely we are guided by their footsteps. 22 Just in the same way, whenever We sent a Warner before thee to any people, the wealthy ones among them said: "We found our fathers following a certain religion, and we will certainly follow in their footsteps." 23 ۞ (The warner) said: What! even if I bring to you a better guide than that on which you found your fathers? They said: Surely we are unbelievers in that with which you are sent. 24 So We took revenge from them – therefore see what sort of fate befell those who denied! 25