[And thus will God continue:] "O you who have lived in close communion with [evil] invisible beings and [like-minded] humans! Have there not come unto you apostles from among yourselves, who conveyed unto you My messages and warned you of the coming of this your Day [of Judgment]?" They will answer: "We do bear witness against ourselves!" - for the life of this world had beguiled them: and so they will bear witness against themselves that they had been denying the truth. 130 That is because thy Lord would never destroy the cities unjustly, while their inhabitants were heedless. 131 And for everyone are ranks from what they do; and your Lord is not unaware of their deeds. 132 Your Lord is Self-Sufficient, full of compassion. If He wills, He can put you away and cause whomever He wills to succeed you just as He has produced you from the seed of another people. 133 The promise that was made to you is bound to be fulfilled. It is not in your power to defeat it. 134 Say: O my people! act according to your ability; I too am acting; so you will soon come to know, for whom (of us) will be the (good) end of the abode; surely the unjust shall not be successful. 135 They set aside for God a share in what He has produced, such as crops and livestock, and they say, "This is for God," so they claim!, and "this is for our associate-gods?" Their associate-gods' share does not reach God, whereas God's share reaches their associate-gods. How ill they judge! 136 To many of the pagans, the murder of their children was made to seem attractive by the idols. This led them (the pagans) to confusion in their religion and to face their own destruction. Had God wanted, they would not have murdered their children. Keep away from them and their evil gains. 137 And they say: "Such-and-such cattle and fruits of the field are sacred; none may eat thereof save those whom we will [to do so]" - so they [falsely] claim; and [they declare that] it is forbidden to burden the backs of certain kinds of cattle; and there are cattle over which they do not pronounce God's name - falsely attributing [the origin of these customs] to Him. [But] He will requite them for all their false imagery. 138 And they said, “The animals in the bellies of such cattle are purely for our males and forbidden to our women; and if the animal is stillborn, they all have a share of it”; soon Allah will repay them for their utterances; indeed He is Wise, All Knowing. 139 Lost are those who slay their children, from folly, without knowledge, and forbid food which Allah hath provided for them, inventing (lies) against Allah. They have indeed gone astray and heeded no guidance. 140