Or has He taken, out of what He has created, daughters and chosen you for [having] sons? 16 When one of them is given the glad news of the birth of a daughter, which they believe to be the only kind of child that the Beneficent God can have, his face blackens with anger. 17 Hath He taken to Himself that which is reared in ornaments, and is in contention not plain? 18 And they make the angels-- them who are the servants of the Beneficent Allah-- female (divinities). What! did they witness their creation? Their evidence shall be written down and they shall be questioned. 19 They say, "If the All Merciful had so willed, we would not have worshipped them." They have no knowledge of that. They are only conjecturing. 20 Or did We bestow upon them a Book before on whose authority they are holding on (to angel-worship)? 21 Rather, they say, "Indeed, we found our fathers upon a religion, and we are in their footsteps [rightly] guided." 22 And thus it is: whenever We sent, before thy time, a warner to any community, those of its people who had lost themselves entirely in the pursuit of pleasures would always say: "Behold, we found our forefathers agreed on what to believe - and verily, it is but in their footsteps that we follow!" 23 ۞ The warner said: What! even though I bring you a better guidance than that which ye found your fathers upon? They said: verily in that wherewith ye are sent we are disbelievers. 24 So We wreaked Our vengeance on them: now see what was the end of those who rejected [the Truth]! 25