without ever knowing happiness. There is no success except through following the Messenger, for Allah has granted success exclusively to his believing followers and supporters, as He, Most High, says:

“So those who believe in him, honour him, support him, and follow the light sent down with him—it is they who will succeed.”

That is, none but they will succeed. As He, Most High, says:

“Let there be among you a community calling to goodness, enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong. It is they who will succeed.”

He has singled these people out for success, just as He has singled out for guidance and success those who fear Him: those who believe in the unseen, establish prayer, spend from what He has provided them, believe in what was revealed to His Messenger and what was revealed before him, and are certain of the Hereafter. Thus it is clear that guidance and success depend entirely upon the divine message: without it, neither exists.

This is something upon which all the divinely revealed Books agree and with which all the messengers were sent. That is why Allah has related to us the accounts of the nations that rejected the messengers and the fate that befell them. He preserved their remains and dwellings as a lesson and an admonition for those who came after them.

Likewise, He transformed some into apes and swine because they opposed their prophets. The same applies to those whom He caused the earth to swallow, those upon whom He sent stones from heaven, those whom He drowned in the sea, those against whom He sent the mighty blast, and those whom He seized with various punishments. All this was only because they opposed the messengers, turned away from what they brought, and took protectors besides Him. This is His way—glory be to Him—with those who oppose His messengers and turn away from what they have brought