He knows all that goes into the earth and all that comes out of it; He knows all that comes down from the heavens and all that goes up to them. He is the Merciful, the Forgiving.

Still, the disbelievers say, ‘The Last Hour will never come upon us.’ Say, ‘Yes, by my Lord, [it will], by Him who knows the unseen! Not even the weight of a speck of dust in the heavens or earth escapes His knowledge, nor anything smaller or greater. It is all recorded in a clear Record

so that He can reward those who believe and do good deeds: they will have forgiveness and generous provision.’

But as for those who work against Our Revelations, seeking to undermine them, there will be a torment of painful suffering.

[Prophet], those who have been given knowledge can see that what has been sent to you from your Lord is the truth, and that it leads to the path of the Almighty, worthy of all praise.

But the disbelievers say, ‘Shall we show you a man who claims that, when you have been utterly torn to pieces, you will be raised in a new creation?

Has he invented a lie about God? Is he mad?’ No! It is those who do not believe in the life to come who will suffer torment, for they are in gross error.

Do they not think about what is in front of them and behind them in the heavens and earth? If We wished, We could make the earth swallow them, or make fragments from the heavens fall down upon them. There truly is a sign in this for every servant who turns back to God in repentance.

We graced David with Our favour. We said, ‘You mountains, echo God’s praises together with him, and you birds, too.’ We softened iron for him,

saying, ‘Make coats of chain mail and measure the links well.’ ‘Do good, all of you, for I see everything you do.’

And [We subjected] the wind for Solomon. Its outward journey took a month, and its return journey likewise. We made a fountain of molten brass flow for him, and some of the jinn worked under his control with his Lord’s permission. If one of them deviated from Our command, We let him taste the suffering of the blazing flame.

They made him whatever he wanted- palaces, statues, basins as large as water troughs, fixed cauldrons. We said, ‘Work thankfully, family of David, for few of my servants are truly thankful.’

Then, when We decreed Solomon’s death, nothing showed the jinn he was dead, but a creature of the earth eating at his stick: when he fell down they realized- if they had known what was hidden they would not have continued their demeaning labour.

There was a sign for the people of Sheba, too, in their dwelling place: two gardens, one on the right, one on the left: ‘Eat from what your Lord has provided for you and give Him thanks, for your land is good, and your Lord most forgiving.’

But they paid no heed, so We let loose on them a flood from the dam and replaced their two gardens with others that yielded bitter fruit, tamarisk bushes, and a few lote trees.

In this way We punished them for their ingratitude- would We punish anyone but the ungrateful?

Also, We had placed, between them and the towns We had blessed, other towns within sight of one another to which they could travel easily- ‘ Travel safely in this land by night and by day’-

but [still] they complained, ‘Our Lord has made the distance between our staging posts so long!’They wronged themselves and, in the end, We made their fate a byword, and scattered them in countless fragments. There truly are signs in this for every patient, thankful person.

Satan was proved right in his opinion of them, for they all followed him- except for a group of believers-

even though he had no authority over them. But [We aim] to distinguish those who believe in the life to come from those who doubt it: [Prophet], your Lord observes everything.

Say, ‘Pray to your so-called gods besides God: they do not control even the weight of a speck of dust in heaven or earth, nor do they have any share in them, nor are any of them any help to God.

Intercession will not work with Him, except by those to whom He gives permission.’ They will be asked, after the terror is lifted from their hearts [on the Day of Judgement], ‘What did your Lord speak?’ and they will answer, ‘The Truth. He is the Most High, the Most Great.’

Say [Prophet], ‘Who gives you sustenance from the heavens and earth?’ Say, ‘God does,’ and ‘[One party of us] must be rightly guided and the other clearly astray.’

Say, ‘You will not be ques-tioned about our sins, nor will we be questioned about what you do.’

Say, ‘Our Lord will gather us together, then He will judge justly between us; He alone is the All Knowing Judge.’

Say, ‘Show me those you joined to Him as partners. No indeed! He alone is God, the Almighty, the All Wise.’

We have sent you [Prophet] only to bring good news and warning to all people, but most of them do not understand.

And they say, ‘If what you say is true, when will this promise be fulfilled?’

Say, ‘You have an appointment for a Day which you cannot put off nor bring forward, even by a single moment.’

The disbelievers say, ‘We will believe neither this Qur an nor the Scriptures that came before it.’ If only you could see [Prophet] how the wrongdoers will be made to stand before their Lord, hurling reproaches at one another. Those who were oppressed will say to the oppressors, ‘If it were not for you, we would have been believers.’

The oppressors will say to them, ‘Was it we who prevented you from following right guidance after it had reached you? No! You yourselves were sinners.’

The oppressed will say to them, ‘No, it was your scheming, night and day, ordering us to disbelieve in God and set up rivals to Him.’ When they see the punishment, they will fall silent with regret, and We shall put iron collars on the disbelievers’ necks. Why should they be rewarded for anything other than what they have done?

Never have We sent a warner to a community without those among them who were corrupted by wealth saying, ‘We do not believe in the message you have been sent with.’

They would say, ‘We have greater wealth and more children than you, and we shall not be punished.’

Say [Prophet], ‘My Lord gives in abundance to whoever He will and sparingly to whoever He will, though most people do not understand.

Neither wealth nor children will bring you nearer to Us, but those who believe and do good deeds will have multiple rewards for what they have done, and will live safely in the lofty dwellings of Paradise,

whereas those who work against Our messages, seeking to undermine them, will be summoned to punishment.’

Say, ‘My Lord gives in abundance to whichever of His servants He will, and sparingly to whichever He will; He will replace whatever you give in alms; He is the best of providers.’

On the Day He gathers them all together, He will say to the angels, ‘Was it you these people worshipped?’

They will reply, ‘May You be exalted! You are our supporter against them! Really, they worshipped the jinn- most of them believed in them.’

‘So today neither of you has any power to benefit or harm the other,’ We shall tell the evildoers, ‘Taste the torment of the fire which you called a lie.’

When Our messages are recited to them, clear as they are, they say, ‘This is only a man who wants to turn you away from what your forefathers worshipped,’ and, ‘This [Quran] is nothing but lies he has made up.’ When the Truth comes to the disbelievers, they say, ‘This is just plain sorcery,’

though We have not given them any books to study nor sent any warner before you.

Those who lived before them also denied the truth- these people have not attained even a tenth of what We gave their predecessors- they, too, rejected My messengers, and how terrible My condemnation was!

Say [Prophet], ‘I advise you to do one thing only: stand before God, in pairs or singly, and think: there is no sign of madness in your companion [the Prophet]- he is only warning you before severe suffering arrives.’

Say, ‘If I have asked you for any reward, you can keep it. It is God alone who will reward me: He is witness to everything.’

Say, ‘My Lord hurls the Truth down [before you]. He has full knowledge of all that is unseen.’

Say, ‘The Truth has come; falsehood is powerless.’

Say, ‘If I go astray, that is my loss, and if I am rightly guided, it is through what my Lord has revealed to me. He is all hearing, and ever near.’

[Prophet], if you could only see their terror! There will be no escape when they are seized from a nearby place;

they will say, ‘Now we believe in it,’ but how can they reach it from such a distant place-

they denied it all in the past, and threw conjecture from a faroff place-

when a barrier has been placed between them and what they desire, just as was done with their kind before? They were deep in doubt and suspicion.