AND WHENEVER thy Sustainer brings forth their offspring from the loins of the children of Adam, He [thus] calls upon them to bear witness about themselves: "Am I not your Sustainer?" - to which they answer: "Yea, indeed, we do bear witness thereto!" [Of this We remind you,] lest you say on the Day of Resurrection, "Verily, we were unaware of this"; 172 Or [lest] you say, "It was only that our fathers associated [others in worship] with Allah before, and we were but descendants after them. Then would You destroy us for what the falsifiers have done?" 173 So We distinguish the signs; and haply they will return. 174 Relate to them the story of the man to whom We sent Our signs, but he passed them by: so Satan followed him up, and he went astray. 175 Had We wanted, We could have raised him to an exalted position but he clung to his earthly life and followed his own (evil) desires. Such person's bad habits are like those of a lazy dog (in a warm climate) who always has its tongue hanging out whether you chase it away or leave it alone. Such are the people who have called Our revelations mere lies. (Muhammad), tell them such stories so that perhaps they will think. 176 Evil as an example are people who reject Our signs and wrong their own souls. 177 Whomsoever Allah guides, he is the one who follows the right way; and whomsoever He causes to err, these are the losers. 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 Allah's are the best names, therefore call on Him thereby, and leave alone those who violate the sanctity of His names; they shall be recompensed for what they did. 180 And of those whom We have created there is a party who guide men through the truth and act justly according to it. 181