Allah knows what every female bears, and what shrinks and swells the womb. And everything with Him has its measure. 8 (He is) the Knower of the unseen and the seen, the Great, the Exalted. 9 Alike of you is he who conceals his -- saying, and he who proclaims it, he who hides himself in the night, and he who sallies by day; 10 For him are angels in succession, before him and behind him; they guard him with Allah's command. Verily Allah altereth not that which is with a people until they alter that which is with themselves. And when Allah intendeth evil unto a people there is no turning it back; nor is for them, beside Him, any patron. 11 It is He who shows you the lightning, as a fear (for travellers) and as a hope (for those who wait for rain). And it is He Who brings up (or originates) the clouds, heavy (with water). 12 Both the thunder and the angels glorify Him and out of His fear always praise Him. He sends down thunder-bolts to strike whomever He wants, while they are busy arguing about the existence of God. His punishment is stern. 13 Only the prayer to Him is truthful; and whomever they pray to besides Him, do not hear them at all, but like one who has his hands outstretched towards water that it may come into his mouth, and it will never come; and every prayer of the disbelievers remains wandering. 14 All that is in the heavens and the earth prostrates itself, whether willingly or by force, before Allah; and so do their shadows in the morning and in the evening. ۩ 15 Say (O Muhammad): Who is Lord of the heavens and the earth? Say: Allah. Say: Take ye then (others) beside Him for protectors, which, even for themselves, have neither benefit nor hurt? Say: Is the blind man equal to the seer, or is darkness equal to light? Or assign they unto Allah partners who created the like of His creation so that the creation (which they made and His creation) seemed alike to them? Say: Allah is the Creator of all things, and He is the One, the Almighty. 16 When God sends down water from the sky and floods run through the valleys, certain quantities of foam rise on the surface of the flood water. This is similar to that foam which rises when you expose something to the heat of a fire to manufacture ornaments or for other reasons. To God Truth and falsehood are like these examples. The foam disappears but what is profitable to the human being stays in the land. Thus, does God coin His parables. 17 For those who answer their Lord is a most fine reward. But for those who do not answer Him if they possessed all that the earth contains, and as much besides, they would offer it for their ransom. Theirs shall be an evil reckoning. Gehenna (Hell) shall be their refuge, an evil cradling! 18