And how many a town which was iniquitous did We demolish, and We raised 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: "Woe to us; surely we were wrong-doers." 14 So they kept saying this until We made them cut off, extinguished. 15 We did not create the heavens and the earth just for fun. 16 If We willed to choose a pastime, We could have chosen it from Ourselves – if We wanted to. 17 Nay, We hurl the Truth against falsehood, and it knocks out its brain, and behold, falsehood doth perish! Ah! woe be to you for the (false) things ye ascribe (to Us). 18 And whoever is in the heavens and the earth is His; and those who are with Him are not proud to serve Him, nor do they grow weary. 19 They exalt [Him] night and day [and] do not slacken. 20 Or have they taken gods from the earth who can raise the dead? 21 Had there been therein (in the heavens and the earth) gods besides Allah, then verily both would have been ruined. Glorified be Allah, the Lord of the Throne, (High is He) above what they attribute to Him! 22 None shall question Him about what He does, but they shall be questioned. 23 Or have they taken for worship (other) gods besides him? Say, "Bring your convincing proof: this is the Message of those with me and the Message of those before me." But most of them know not the Truth, and so turn away. 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 cannot precede Him in word, and they act by His command. 27 He knows all that lies open before them and all that is hidden from them: hence, they cannot intercede for any but those whom He has [already] graced with His goodly acceptance, since they themselves stand in reverent awe of Him. 28 ۞ And whosoever of them should say: verily I am a god beside Him, such a one We shall requite with Hell; thus We requite the wrong-doers. 29