'Company of jinn and mankind, did not Messengers come to you from among you, relating to you My signs and warning you of the encounter of this your day?' They shall say, 'We bear witness against ourselves.' They were deluded by the present life, and they bear witness against themselves that they were unbelievers. 130 This is because your Lord would not destroy the (populations of) towns for their wrong-doing (i.e. associating others in worship along with Allah) while their people were unaware (so the Messengers were sent). 131 For all there will be degrees (or ranks) according to what they did. And your Lord is not unaware of what they do. 132 Thy Lord is All-sufficient, Merciful. If He will, He can put you away, and leave after you, to succeed you, what He will, as He produced you from the seed of another people. 133 Surely what you are threatened with must come to pass and you cannot escape (it). 134 Say (O Muhammad): O my people! Work according to your power. Lo! I too am working. Thus ye will come to know for which of us will be the happy sequel. Lo! the wrong-doers will not be successful. 135 They appoint to God, of the tillage and cattle that He multiplied, a portion, saying, 'This is for God' -- so they assert -- 'and this is for our associates.' So what is for their associates reaches not God; and what is for God reaches their associates. Evil is their judgment! 136 And likewise, to many of the polytheists their partners have made [to seem] pleasing the killing of their children in order to bring about their destruction and to cover them with confusion in their religion. And if Allah had willed, they would not have done so. So leave them and that which they invent. 137 They say: 'These cattle, and these crops are forbidden. None can eat of them except those whom we permit' so they claim 'and cattle whose backs are forbidden, and others over which they do not pronounce the Name of Allah' As such fabricating lies against Him. He will recompense them for their invented lies. 138 And they say: "All that is in the wombs of such-and-such cattle is reserved for our males and forbidden to our women; but if it be stillborn, then both may have their share thereof." [God] will requite them for all that they [falsely] attribute [to Him]: behold, He is wise, all-knowing. 139 Those will have lost who killed their children in foolishness without knowledge and prohibited what Allah had provided for them, inventing untruth about Allah. They have gone astray and were not [rightly] guided. 140