God knows the hidden reality of the heavens and the earth. He has full knowledge of what is in the hearts of men; 38 It is He Who has made you the successors of your predecessors in the earth; so whoever disbelieves – (the harm of) his disbelief falls only on him; and for the disbelievers, their disbelief increases nothing in their Lord’s sight except disgust; and for the disbelievers, their disbelief increases nothing for them except ruin. 39 Say: "Have you ever [really] considered those beings and forces to whom you ascribe a share in God's divinity, [and] whom you invoke beside God? Show me what it is that they have created on earth - or do [you claim that] they have a share in [governing] the heavens?" Have We ever vouchsafed them a divine writ on which they could rely as evidence [in support of their views]? Nay, [the hope which] the evildoers hold out to one another [is] nothing but a delusion. 40 ۞ Verily God holds the heavens and the earth in position lest they deviate; and if they deviated there will be none to hold them in place, apart from Him He is sagacious and forgiving. 41 The unbelievers swore on oath emphatically that if an admonisher came to them they would be guided better than the other communities. But when the admonisher came to them their aversion for the truth increased, 42 Through their stiff-neckedness in the land and plotting of evil. And the plotting of evil only infoldeth the authors thereof. Wait they, then, but the dispensation of the ancients? And thou wilt not find in dispensation of Allah a change, nor wilt thou find in dispensation of Allah a turning off 43 Do they not travel through the earth, and see what was the End of those before them,- though they were superior to them in strength? Nor is Allah to be frustrated by anything whatever in the heavens or on earth: for He is All-Knowing. All-Powerful. 44 If God should take men to task for what they have earned He would not leave upon the face of the earth one creature that crawls; but He is deferring them to a stated term. But when their term is come -- surely God sees His servants. 45