We have indeed turned about for men in this Koran every manner of similitude; man is the most disputatious of things. 54 There is nothing to prevent men from believing when the guidance has come to them, and asking for their Lord's forgiveness, unless they want the example of earlier people visited upon them, or the punishment to appear right before their eyes. 55 And We send not the Envoys, but good tidings to bear, and warning. Yet do the unbelievers dispute with falsehood, that they may rebut thereby the truth. They have taken My signs, and what they are warned of, in mockery. 56 And who is more unjust than one who is reminded of the verses of his Lord but turns away from them and forgets what his hands have put forth? Indeed, We have placed over their hearts coverings, lest they understand it, and in their ears deafness. And if you invite them to guidance - they will never be guided, then - ever. 57 Yet, [withal,] thy Sustainer is the Truly-Forgiving One, limitless in His grace. Were He to take them [at once] to task for whatever [wrong] they commit, He would indeed bring about their speedy punishment [then and there]: but nay, they have a time-limit beyond which they shall find no redemption 58 Such were the populations we destroyed when they committed iniquities; but we fixed an appointed time for their destruction. 59