Yet they make for Him of His servants offspring ; verily, man is surely obviously ungrateful.
15 Has He taken of what He creates daughters, and chosen sons for you ?
Yet when the tidings[1] are given any one of that which he strikes out as a similitude for the merciful One, his face grows black and he is choked. What ! one brought up amongst ornaments, and who is always in contention without obvious cause[2]?
And have they made the angels, who are the servants of the Merciful One, females ? Were they witnesses of their creation ? their witness shall be written down, and they shall be questioned ; and they say, ‘ Had the Merciful pleased we should never have worshipped them.’ They have no knowledge of that, they only conjecture.
20 Have we given them a book[3] before it to which they might hold ?
Nay; they say, ‘ We found our fathers (agreed) upon a religion, and, verily, we are guided by their traces.’
Thus, too, did we never send before thee to a city any warner, but the affluent ones thereof said, ‘ Verily, we found our fathers (agreed) upon a religion, and, verily, we are led by their traces.’
Say, ‘ What ! if I come to you with what is a better guide than what ye found your fathers agreed upon ?’ and they will say, ‘ Verily, we in what ye are sent with disbelieve !’
- ↑ I. e. of the birth of a daughter, see Part I, p. 256, note 2.
- ↑ I. e. what ! do they assign children of this kind, viz. daughters, to God ?
- ↑ I. e. a scripture authorising the practice of their religion, such as the worship of angels and the ascribing of daughters to God.
