Blessed be He who, if He pleased, could give you better than that, -- gardens with rivers flowing by; and make palaces for you. 10 Aye! they belie the Hour; and We have gotten ready for him who belieth the Hour a Flame. 11 When it seeth them from afar, they hear the crackling and the roar thereof. 12 and when they are flung, linked [all] together, into a tight space within, they will pray for extinction there and then! 13 Pray not that day for one destruction, but pray for many destructions! 14 Say, "Which is better, this or the Paradise of immortality which the righteous have been promised? It is their recompense and their destination." 15 Abiding there forever, they shall find in it all that they desire. This is a binding promise which your Lord has made. 16 The day He will gather them together as well as those whom they worship besides Allah, He will ask: "Was it ye who let these My servants astray, or did they stray from the Path themselves?" 17 They will answer, "Hallowed be You! It was not proper for us to choose any guardian other than You. But You gave them and their fathers the comforts of this life, so that they forgot Your reminder and thus brought destruction upon themselves." 18 Thus they (false gods all deities other than Allah) will give you (polytheists) the lie regarding what you say (that they are gods besides Allah), then you can neither avert (the punishment), nor get help. And whoever among you does wrong (i.e. sets up rivals to Allah), We shall make him taste a great torment. 19 We did not send Messengers before you but that they ate food and walked about in the markets, We have appointed some of you to be a trial for others. Will you endure? Your Lord is the Seer. 20