Allah knows what every female bears, and that of which the wombs fall short of completion and that in which they increase; and there is a measure with Him of everything. 8 Knower of the hidden and the manifest! the Great! the Exalted. 9 It is all the same to Him whether you speak in secret or out loud, try to hide in the darkness of night or walk in the brightness of day. 10 For his sake there are angels following one another, before him and behind him, who guard him by Allah's commandment; surely Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change their own condition; and when Allah intends evil to a people, there is no averting it, and besides Him they have no protector. 11 It is God who flashes lightning to frighten you and to give you hope. It is He who forms the heavy clouds. 12 The thunder hymneth His praise and (so do) the angels for awe of Him. He launcheth the thunderbolts and smiteth with them whom He will while they dispute (in doubt) concerning Allah, and He is mighty in wrath. 13 Unto Him is the true call, and those whom they call upon beside Him answer them not at all, save as is answered one stretching out his palms to water that it may reach his mouth, while it will reach it not. And the supplication of the infidels only goeth astray. 14 To God bow all who are in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly, as do their shadows also in the mornings and the evenings. ۩ 15 Ask them: "Who is the Lord of the heavens and the earth?" Say: "Allah." Tell them: "Have you taken beside Him as your patrons those who do not have the power to benefit or to hurt even themselves?" Say: "Can the blind and the seeing be deemed equals? Or can light and darkness be deemed equals?" If that is not so, then have those whom they associate with Allah in His Divinity ever created anything like what Allah did so that the question of creation has become dubious to them? Say: "Allah is the creator of everything. He is the One, the Irresistible." 16 He sendeth down water from the sky, so that valleys flow according to their measure, and the flood beareth (on its surface) swelling foam - from that which they smelt in the fire in order to make ornaments and tools riseth a foam like unto it - thus Allah coineth (the similitude of) the true and the false. Then, as for the foam, it passeth away as scum upon the banks, while, as for that which is of use to mankind, it remaineth in the earth. Thus Allah coineth the similitudes. 17 Those who answer the call of their Lord will receive good rewards. Whatever those who have not answered the call of their Lord offer to redeem themselves, even if they offer double the wealth of the whole earth, will not be accepted. They will face a terrible reckoning and their dwelling will be hell, a terrible place to rest! 18