And when thy Lord took from the Children of Adam, from their loins, their seed, and made them testify touching themselves, 'Am I not your Lord?' They said, 'Yes, we testify'-- lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection, 'As for us, we were heedless of this,' 172 Or lest you say, "Our forefathers associated others with God before our time, and we are only the descendants who came after them. So are You going to destroy us for what those inventors of falsehood did?" 173 That is how We explain Our signs distinctly so that they may come back (to the right path). 174 Relate to them the plight of the man whom We gave Our signs, but he passed them by, so that Satan came after him, and he went astray. 175 Now had We so willed, We could indeed have exalted him by means of those [messages]: but he always clung to the earth and followed but his own desires. Thus, his parable is that of an [excited] dog: if thou approach him threateningly, he will pant with his tongue lolling; and if thou leave him alone, he will pant with his tongue lolling. Such is the parable of those who are bent on giving the lie to Our messages. Tell [them,] then, this story, so that they might take thought. 176 Evil is the case of those who deny Our signs and wrong themselves. 177 anyone whom God guides has been rightly guided; while those He lets go astray will surely be the losers. 178 And certainly We have created for hell many of the jinn and the men; they have hearts with which they do not understand, and they have eyes with which they do not see, and they have ears with which they do not hear; they are as cattle, nay, they are in worse errors; these are the heedless ones. 179 Allah has the most excellent names. So call on Him by His names and shun those who distort them. They shall soon be requited for their deeds. 180 Of those We created are a nation who guide by the truth, and by it act with justice. 181