And assuredly We sent apostles unto communities before thee; then We laid hold of them with adversity and distress, that haply they may humble themselves. 42 Yet why did they not, when Our punishment came to them, humble themselves? But their hearts hardened and the Shaitan made what they did fair-seeming to them. 43 Then, when they had forgotten all that they had been told to take to heart, We threw open to them the gates of all [good] things until - even as they were rejoicing in what they had been granted - We suddenly took them to task: and lo! they were broken in spirit; 44 and [in the end,] the last remnant of those folk who had been bent on evildoing was wiped out. For all praise is due to God, the Sustainer of all the worlds. 45 Say, "Have you considered: if Allah should take away your hearing and your sight and set a seal upon your hearts, which deity other than Allah could bring them [back] to you?" Look how we diversify the verses; then they [still] turn away. 46 Say: 'If the chastisement of Allah were to overtake you unawares or openly shall any except the wrong-doing people be destroyed?' 47 We send the messengers only to give good news and to warn, so those who believe and reform themselves need have no fear, nor will they grieve. 48 But those who reject our signs,- them shall punishment touch, for that they ceased not from transgressing. 49 (Muhammad), tell them, "I do not claim to have all the treasures of God in my hands, nor to know the unseen, nor do I claim to be an angel. I follow only what is revealed to me (from God)." Say to them, "Are the blind and the seeing equal?" Why then do you not think? 50