178وَلا يَحسَبَنَّ الَّذينَ كَفَروا أَنَّما نُملي لَهُم خَيرٌ لِأَنفُسِهِم ۚ إِنَّما نُملي لَهُم لِيَزدادوا إِثمًا ۚ وَلَهُم عَذابٌ مُهينٌMuhammad AsadAnd they should not think - they who are bent on denying the truth - that Our giving them rein is good for them: We give them rein only to let them grow in sinfulness; and shameful suffering awaits them.1This is an allusion to the doctrine of natural law (in Qur'anic terminology, sunnat Allah, "God's way") to which man's inclinations and actions - as well as all other happenings in the universe - are subject. The above verse says, as it were, "Since these people are bent on denying the truth, Our giving them rein [that is, freedom of choice and time for a reconsideration of their attitude] will not work out for their benefit but will, on the contrary, cause them to grow in false self-confidence and, thus, in sinfulness." As in many similar passages in the Qur'an, God attributes here their "growing in sinfulness" to His own will because it is He who has imposed on all His creation the natural law of cause and effect. (See also note 4 on 14:4.)