How many a wrong-doing town did We shatter and then raise up another people. 11 So when they felt Our punishment, lo! they began to fly 12 "Do not flee; go back to your halls of pleasure and your habitations, so that you may be interrogated." 13 "Woe, alas," they said, "we were really sinful." 14 And this remained their lament till We mowed them down and made them extinct. 15 And We created not the heaven and the earth and that which is in between in play. 16 Had We wanted to play games, We could have certainly done so with things at hand. 17 In fact We strike the truth against the false, which shatters it, and it disappears. Woe to you for what you attribute (to Him)! 18 And whoever is in the heavens and the earth is His; and those who are with Him are not proud to serve Him, nor do they grow weary. 19 Nor cease to endeavour praising Him night and day. 20 Or have they chosen gods from the earth who raise the dead? 21 Had there been other deities in the heavens and the earth besides God, both the heavens and the earth would have been destroyed. God, the Lord of the Throne, is too Glorious to be as they think He is. 22 He cannot be questioned concerning what He does and they shall be questioned. 23 Have they taken other deities besides Him? Say to them, "Bring your proofs. This is the reminder of those who are with me and the reminder of those who were before me." But most of them do not know the truth, and so they turn away from it. 24 Never did We send any Messenger before you to whom We did not reveal: "There is no god but Me. So serve Me alone." 25 And yet they say: "Ar-Rahman has begotten a son." Too exalted is He! In fact, those (they call His sons) were His honoured votaries. 26 They did not precede Him in their speech, and acted on His command. 27 He knows what is before them and what is behind them, and they do not intercede except for him whom He likes, and they fear with awe of Him. (The Holy Prophets and virtuous people will be given the permission to intercede. Prophet Mohammed – peace and blessings be upon him – will be the first to intercede.) 28 ۞ Whoever of them should say, "I am a deity besides Him," shall be requited with Hell. Thus do We reward the wrongdoers. 29