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198
THE QUR'ÂN.
XL, 77-85.
But be thou patient; verily, the promise of God is true; and whether we show thee a part of what we promised them, or whether we surely take thee to ourself, unto us shall they be returned.
And we did send apostles before thee: of them are some whose stories we have related to thee, and of them are some whose stories we have not related to thee; and no apostle might ever bring a sign except by the permission of God; but when God's bidding came it was decided with truth, and there were those lost who deemed it vain!
God it is who has made for you cattle, that ye may ride on some of them;—and of them ye eat, [80] and ye have in them advantages;-and that ye may attain thereon a want which is in your breasts; upon them and upon ships are ye borne.
He shows you His signs; which sign then of your Lord do ye deny?
Have they not journeyed on in the land and seen how was the end of those before them, who were more numerous than they and stronger in might, and in their vestiges which are still in the land? but of no avail to them was that which they had earned.
And when there came to them their apostles with manifest signs they rejoiced in what knowledge they had; but there closed in upon them that whereat they had mocked.
And when they saw our violence they said, 'We believe in God alone, and we disbelieve in what we once associated with Him.'
[85] But their faith was of no avail to them when they saw our violence-the course of God with His servants in time past, and there the misbelievers lose !
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