[And thus will God continue:] "O you who have lived in close communion with [evil] invisible beings and [like-minded] humans! Have there not come unto you apostles from among yourselves, who conveyed unto you My messages and warned you of the coming of this your Day [of Judgment]?" They will answer: "We do bear witness against ourselves!" - for the life of this world had beguiled them: and so they will bear witness against themselves that they had been denying the truth. 130 This is because thy Lord destroyeth not the townships arbitrarily while their people are unconscious (of the wrong they do). 131 People's deeds are of different degrees and your Lord is not unaware of what people do. 132 And your Lord is Rich (Free of all wants), full of Mercy, if He will, He can destroy you, and in your place make whom He will as your successors, as He raised you from the seed of other people. 133 All that hath been promised unto you will come to pass: nor can ye frustrate it (in the least bit). 134 Say: 'Work according to your station my people, for indeed I am working' You shall know to whom will be the good end of the abode. The harmdoers shall not be triumphant. 135 They assign unto Allah, of the crops and cattle which He created, a portion, and they say: "This is Allah's" - in their make-believe - "and this is for (His) partners in regard to us." Thus that which (they assign) unto His partners in them reacheth not Allah and that which (they assign) unto Allah goeth to their (so-called) partners. Evil is their ordinance. 136 In the same way have their companions shown many unbelievers the killing of their children as desirable in order to ruin them and falsify their faith. If God had so willed they would never have done so. Leave them to their falsehoods. 137 They, (the pagans), have said that their cattle and farms are dedicated to private idols and that no one can consume (the produce) except those whom We wanted, in their opinion. They prohibited the riding of certain animals and they ate the flesh of certain animals slaughtered without a mention of the Name of God. Instead, they ascribed falsehood to Him. They will all be given an evil recompense for their sinful invention. 138 And they say: 'What is within the bellies of such-and-such cattle is exclusively for our males and is forbidden to our females; but if it be born dead, they all may share in it.' He will soon requite them for all that they (falsely) attribute to Allah. He is All-Wise, All-Knowing. 139 Lost, indeed, are they who, in their weak-minded ignorance, slay their children and declare as forbidden that which God has provided for them as sustenance, falsely ascribing [such prohibitions] to God: they have gone astray and have not found the right path. 140