How many a city that was evildoing We have shattered, and set up after it another people! 11 Whensoever they sensed Our punishment they fled from them. 12 "Do not flee; go back to your halls of pleasure and your habitations, so that you may be interrogated." 13 They said: "Ah! woe to us! We were indeed wrong-doers!" 14 And this they did not stop crying out until We made them stubble, silent, and still. 15 It was not in play that We created the heavens and the earth and all that lies between them. 16 Had We wished to find a pastime, We would surely have found it in that which is with Us, if such had been Our will. 17 No, We hurl truth at falsehood, and it shall conquer it, and see, falsehood vanishes. Woe to you for all you have described. 18 And His is whosoever is in the heavens and the earth; and those nigh unto Him are not too stiff-necked for His worship nor are they weary. 19 They say His Purity night and day, and do not slacken. 20 Have they chosen deities from earth? Can such deities give life to anyone? 21 Had there been gods in heaven or earth, other than Allah, both would indeed have been ruined. Exalted be Allah, Lord of the Throne, above that they describe. 22 He cannot be questioned for His acts, but they will be questioned (for theirs). 23 Have they taken other deities besides Him? Say to them, "Bring your proofs. This is the reminder of those who are with me and the reminder of those who were before me." But most of them do not know the truth, and so they turn away from it. 24 Never did We send any Messenger before you to whom We did not reveal: "There is no god but Me. So serve Me alone." 25 And they say, "The Most Merciful has taken a son." Exalted is He! Rather, they are [but] honored servants. 26 They do not outstrip Him in speech and only act as He commands. 27 He knows what is before them and what is behind them, and they cannot intercede without His permission. Indeed they themselves stand in awe of Him. 28 ۞ And whoever of them should say, "Indeed, I am a god besides Him"- that one We would recompense with Hell. Thus do We recompense the wrongdoers. 29