And recall what time thy Lord took from the children of Adam their posterity from their backs, and made them testify as to themselves saying: am I not your Lord? They said: Yea! we testify. That was lest ye should say on the Day of Resurrection: verily of this we have been unaware. 172 or you say: 'Our forefathers were idolaters before, and we were the descendants after them, will You destroy us for the deeds of the vaindoers' 173 We explain Our signs in detail thus, so that perhaps they may return to Us. 174 And recite to them, [O Muhammad], the news of him to whom we gave [knowledge of] Our signs, but he detached himself from them; so Satan pursued him, and he became of the deviators. 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 likeness of the people who reject Our communications and are unjust to their own souls. 177 Whom Allah doth guide,- he is on the right path: whom He rejects from His guidance,- such are the persons who perish. 178 We have destined many men and jinn for hell. They have hearts but do not understand, eyes but do not see. They have ears but do not hear. They are worse than lost cattle. These are the heedless ones. 179 And to Allah belong the best names, so invoke Him by them. And leave [the company of] those who practice deviation concerning His names. They will be recompensed for what they have been doing. 180 Of those We have created there are some who give true guidance and act justly. 181