He propounds unto you a parable drawn from your own life: Would you [agree to] have some of those whom your right hands possess as [full-fledged] partners in whatever We may have bestowed upon you as sustenance, so that you [and they] would have equal shares in it, and you would fear [to make use of it without consulting] them, just as you might fear [the more powerful of] your equals? Thus clearly do We spell out these messages unto people who use their reason. 28 No, the wrongdoers follow their own desires without knowledge. And who can guide those whom Allah has led astray? There shall be none to help them. 29 (Muhammad), be devoted to the upright religion. It is harmonious with the nature which God has designed for people. The design of God cannot be altered. Thus is the upright religion, but many people do not know. 30 ۞ Turn in repentance to Him. Have fear of Him. Be steadfast in your prayer. Do not be like the pagans 31 those who have divided their religion, and become sects, each rejoicing in what they have. 32 When an affliction befalls men, they cry out to their Lord, turning to Him in repentance; but then, when He has made them taste His mercy, a section of them associate partners with their Lord, 33 [as if] to prove their ingratitude for all that We have granted them! Enjoy, then, your [brief] life: but in time you will come to know [the truth]! 34 Or have We sent down to them any proof, which therefore tells them of My partners? 35 When We give people a taste of mercy, they rejoice in it, but when evil befalls them through the forwarding of their own hands, they become despondent. 36 Do they not see that Allah outspreads and restricts His provision to whom He will? Surely, there are signs in this for those who believe. 37 So give thou unto the kinsman his due and unto the needy and unto the wayfarer. That is best for those who seek Allah's countenance; and those: they are the blissful ones. 38 That which ye lay out for increase through the property of (other) people, will have no increase with Allah: but that which ye lay out for charity, seeking the Countenance of Allah, (will increase): it is these who will get a recompense multiplied. 39 Allah is the one who created you, then provided for you, then will cause you to die, and then will give you life. Are there any of your "partners" who does anything of that? Exalted is He and high above what they associate with Him. 40