The worshippers of false gods say: "If Allah had so willed, we should not have worshipped aught but Him - neither we nor our fathers,- nor should we have prescribed prohibitions other than His." So did those who went before them. But what is the mission of messengers but to preach the Clear Message? 35 Indeed, We sent forth among every nation a Messenger saying: 'Serve you God, and eschew idols.' Then some of them God guided, and some were justly disposed to error. So journey in the land, and behold how was the end of them that cried lies. 36 If thou art solicitous for their guidance, then verily Allah guideth not whomsoever He sendeth astray, and for them there are no helpers. 37 They swear their strongest oaths by God that God will never raise the dead to life -- nonetheless, it is a promise truly binding on Him, even though most people do not realize it -- 38 So that He might make manifest to them that about which they differ, and that those who disbelieve might know that they were liars. 39 Our word for a thing when We intend it, is only that We say to it, Be, and it is. 40