Say thou unto My bondmen that they should say that which is best, Verily the Satan would stir up strife between them; verily the Satan is unto men ever an enemy manifest. 53 Your Lord knows you best. He will have mercy on you if He wills and chastise you if He wills. We have not sent you, (O Muhammad), as an overseer over them. 54 Your Lord knows whoever is in the heavens and the earth. We exalted some of the prophets over the others; and to David We gave the Book of Psalms. 55 Proclaim, “Call upon those whom you assume besides Allah – so they do not have any power to relieve the misfortune from you nor to avert it.” 56 Those [saintly beings] whom they invoke are themselves striving to obtain their Sustainer's favour - [even] those among them who are closest [to Him] - hoping for His grace and dreading His chastisement: for, verily, thy Sustainer's chastisement is something to beware of! 57 The decree that all the towns were to be destroyed or afflicted with severe punishment was already written in the Book before the Day of Judgment. 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 lo! We said unto thee, [O Prophet:] "Behold, thy Sustainer encompasses all mankind [within His knowledge and might]: and so We have ordained that the vision which We have shown thee - as also the tree [of hell,] cursed in this Qur'an - shall be but a trial for men. Now [by Our mentioning hell] We convey a warning to them: but [if they are bent on denying the truth,] this [warning] only increases their gross, overweening arrogance." 60