And of old we sent to Themoud their brother Saleh, with "Serve ye God:"but lo! they became two sets of disputants wrangling with each other. He said, "O my people, why, if ye ask not pardon of God that ye may find mercy, hasten ye on evil rather than good?" They said,"We augur9 ill concerning thee and those who are with thee." He said, "The ills of which ye augur10 depend on God. But ye are a people on your trial." And there were in the city nine persons who committed excesses in the land and did not that which is right. They said, "Swear ye to one another by God that we will surely fall on him and on his family by night: then will be say to the avenger of blood, we witnessed not the destruction of his family: and verily we speak the truth." And they devised a device, and we devised a device, and they were not aware of it– And see what was the end of their device! We destroyed them and their whole people: And for their sin these their houses are empty ruins: Verily in this is a sign to those who understand; And we delivered those who believed and feared. And Lot, when he said to his people, "What! proceed ye to such filthiness with your eyes open? What! come ye with lust unto men rather than to women? Surely ye are an ignorant people." And the answer of his people was but to say, "Cast out the family of Lot from your city: they, forsooth, are men of purity!" So we rescued him and his family: but as for his wife, we decreed her to be of them that lingered: And we rained a rain upon them, and fatal was the rain to those who had had their warning. SAY: Praise be to God and peace be on His servants whom He hath chosen! Is God the more worthy or the gods they join with Him? Is not He who hath made the Heavens and the Earth, and hath sent down rain to you from Heaven, by which we cause the luxuriant groves to spring up! It is not in your power to cause its trees to spring up! What! A god with God? Yet they find equals for Him! Is not He, who hath set the earth so firm, and hath made rivers in its midst, and hath placed mountains upon it, and put a barrier between the two seas?11 What! a god with God? Yet the greater part of them have no knowledge! Is not He the more worthy who answereth the oppressed when they cry to him, and taketh off their ills, and maketh you to succeed your sires on the earth? What! a god with God? How few bear these things in mind! Is not He, who guideth you in the darkness of the land and of the sea, and who sendeth forth the winds as the forerunners of His mercy? What! a god with God? Far from God be what ye join with Him! Is not He, who created a Being, then reneweth it, and who supplieth you out of the Heaven and the Earth? What! a god with God? SAY: Bring forth your proofs if you speak the truth. SAY: None either in the Heavens or in the Earth knoweth the unseen but God. And they know not When they shall be raised.