"Remember when your Lord said to you, 'If you give thanks, I shall give you greater (favors), but if you deny the Truth, know that My retribution is severe ". 7 And Moses said, 'If you are thankless, you and whoso is on earth, all together, yet assuredly God is All-sufficient, All-laudable.' 8 Have the accounts of your predecessors not reached you: the people of Noah, the Ad, the Thamud, and those who came after them - they whose number is not known to any except Allah? Their Messengers came to them with Clear Signs, but they thrust their hands in their mouths, and said: "We do surely reject the Message you have brought, and we are in disquieting doubt about what you are summoning us to." 9 ۞ Said the apostles sent unto them: "Can there be any doubt about [the existence and oneness of] God, the Originator of the heavens and the earth? It is He who calls unto you, so that He may forgive you [whatever is past] of your sins and grant you respite until a term [set by Him is fulfilled]." [But] they replied: "You are nothing but mortal men like ourselves! You want to turn us away from what our forefathers were wont to worship: well, then, bring us a clear proof [of your being God's message-bearers]!" 10 Their messengers replied, "We are indeed mortals like yourselves. But God bestows His grace on such of His servants as He chooses. We cannot give you miracles, except by God's leave. In God let true believers put their trust -- 11 And why should we not repose our trust in God when He has shown us our paths of duty to Him? We shall bear with fortitude the hardships you inflict upon us. The trusting place their trust in God." 12