And this (the Qur’an) is the blessed Book which We have sent down; so follow it and be pious, so there may be mercy upon you. 155 Lest you (pagan Arabs) should say: "The Book was only sent down to two sects before us (the Jews and the Christians), and for our part, we were in fact unaware of what they studied." 156 Or that: "Had the Book been sent down to us we would surely have been guided better than they." So you have now received from your Lord a clear proof and a guidance and grace. Then who is more wicked than he who denies the signs of God and turns away from them? We shall punish those severely who turn away: A requital indeed for having turned aside. 157 Are they waiting for the angels or your Lord to come to them, or for some of the signs of your Lord? On the Day when some of the signs of your Lord come, no soul will be benefited by its belief had it not believed before or earned good in its belief. Say: 'Wait, we are waiting' 158 Indeed, those who have divided their religion and become sects - you, [O Muhammad], are not [associated] with them in anything. Their affair is only [left] to Allah; then He will inform them about what they used to do. 159 He who brings a good deed shall have tenfold of its like, but he who brings a sin shall be recompensed only for its like. None shall be wronged. 160 Say, “Indeed my Lord has guided me to the Straight Path; the right religion, (of) the community of Ibrahim who was free from all falsehood; and was not a polytheist.” 161 Say: "Behold, my prayer, and [all] my acts of worship, and my living and my dying are for God [alone,] the Sustainer of all the worlds, 162 No associate hath He. And to this I am bidden, and I am the first of the Muslims. 163 Say: "Shall I search for another lord apart from God when He is the only Lord of all and everything?" Each soul earns (what it earns) for itself, and no man shall bear another's burden. You have to go back to your Lord in the end when He will tell you about the things you disputed. 164 It is He who has made you successors [of others] on the earth and has exalted some of you over the others in degrees of rank, so that He may test you by that which He has given you. Your Lord is swift in punishment; yet surely He is forgiving, and merciful. 165