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We have sent other messengers before you- some We have mentioned to you and some We have not- and no messenger could bring about a sign except with God’s permission. When [the Day] God ordained comes, just judgement will be passed between them: there and then, those who followed falsehood will be lost.

It is God who provides livestock for you, some for riding and some for your food;

you have other benefits in them too. You can reach any destination you wish on them: they carry you, as ships carry you [on the sea].

He shows you His signs: which of God’s signs do you still ignore?

Have they not travelled through the land and seen how those who lived before them met their end? They were more numerous than them, stronger than them, and made a more impressive mark on the land, yet what they achieved was of no use to them at all.

When messengers came to them with clear signs, they revelled in the knowledge they had, and so they were engulfed by the very punishment they mocked:

when they saw Our punishment, they said, ‘We believe in God alone; we reject any partner we ascribed to Him,’

but believing after seeing Our punishment did not benefit them at all- this has always been God’s way of dealing with His creatures- there and then the disbelievers were lost.