Allah doth know what every female (womb) doth bear, by how much the wombs fall short (of their time or number) or do exceed. Every single thing is before His sight, in (due) proportion. 8 The knower of the unseen and the seen, the Great, the Most High. 9 Alike of you is he who hideth the saying and he who noiseth it abroad, he who lurketh in the night and he who goeth freely in the daytime. 10 For him are angels in succession, before him and behind him; they guard him with Allah's command. Verily Allah altereth not that which is with a people until they alter that which is with themselves. And when Allah intendeth evil unto a people there is no turning it back; nor is for them, beside Him, any patron. 11 He it is Who showeth you the lightning, a fear and a hope, and raiseth the heavy clouds. 12 The thunder sings His praises, and the angels too, for awe of Him. He sends thunder-bolts and strikes whosoever He will with them: Even then it is God they contend about! But mighty is He in (His) power. 13 To call on Him is true (supplication). For those they invoke other than Him do not answer them at all, except like a man who stretches his hands towards the water that it reach his mouth, but it will never reach it. Not more than error are the prayers of infidels. 14 Whatever beings there are in the heavens and the earth do prostrate themselves to Allah (Acknowledging subjection),- with good-will or in spite of themselves: so do their shadows in the morning and evenings. ۩ 15 Say, "Who is Lord of the heavens and the earth?" Say, "God." Say, "Why do you take protectors other than Him, who can neither benefit nor harm even themselves?" Say, "Are the blind and the seeing equal? Is darkness equal to the light? Or have they assigned partners to God who create as He creates, so that both creations appear to them alike?" Say, "God is the Creator of all things. He is the One, the Almighty." 16 He sendeth down water from the heaven, so that the valleys flow according to their measure; then the torrent beareth the scum on top, and from that over which they kindle a fire seeking ornament or goods - ariseth a scum like thereto: Thus doth Allah propound the truth and falsity. Then as for the scum, it departeth as rubbish, and as for that which benefiteth the mankind, it lasteth on the earth: Thus doth Allah propound the similitudes. 17 For those who obey their Lord is excellence. For those who fail to obey, the reckoning will be hard, even if they possess and give as ransom all that there is on the earth, and as much more; and Hell will be their abode: How wretched is its wide expanse! 18