And how many a city which was unjust have We shattered and produced after it another people. 11 And [every time,] as soon as they began to feel Our punishing might, lo! they tried to flee from it 12 They were told, "Do not try to flee, but return to the comfort and luxuries in which you exulted and to the places where you lived, so that you may be questioned." 13 They said: "Ah! woe to us! We were indeed wrong-doers!" 14 Such was what they continued to say until We mowed them down and made them completely extinct. 15 We created not the heavens and the earth and all that is between them for a (mere) play. 16 Had We intended to take a diversion, We could have taken it from [what is] with Us - if [indeed] We were to do so. 17 Nay, We hurl the Truth at falsehood so that the Truth crushes falsehood, and lo! it vanishes. Woe to you for what you utter! 18 To Him belongs whosoever is in the heavens and on earth. And those who are near Him (i.e. the angels) are not too proud to worship Him, nor are they weary (of His worship). 19 They glorify (Him) by night and day; they are never languid. 20 Or have men taken for themselves gods from the earth who resurrect [the dead]? 21 Had there been within the heavens and earth gods besides Allah, they both would have been ruined. So exalted is Allah, Lord of the Throne, above what they describe. 22 He shall not be questioned as to what He does, but they shall he questioned. 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 And We did not send before you any apostle but We revealed to him that there is no god but Me, therefore serve Me. 25 They say, "The All Merciful has taken a son!" Glory be to Him! They are only His honoured servants: 26 They do not speak before He has, and they act only at His command. 27 He knows what is [presently] before them and what will be after them, and they cannot intercede except on behalf of one whom He approves. And they, from fear of Him, are apprehensive. 28 ۞ If any of them says, 'I am a god apart from Him', such a one We recompense with Gehenna; even so We recompense the evildoers. 29