Allah knows what every female bears; and what the wombs fall short of (in gestation), and what they may add. With Him everything is in a fixed measure. 8 All-Knower of the unseen and the seen, the Most Great, the Most High. 9 It makes no difference whether you converse in secret or aloud, whether you hide under the cloak of night or walk about freely in the light of day. 10 For each one are successive [angels] before and behind him who protect him by the decree of Allah. Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves. And when Allah intends for a people ill, there is no repelling it. And there is not for them besides Him any patron. 11 It is He who shows you the lightning, as a fear (for travellers) and as a hope (for those who wait for rain). And it is He Who brings up (or originates) the clouds, heavy (with water). 12 and the thunder extols His limitless glory and praises Him, and [so do] the angels, in awe of Him; and He [it is who] lets loose the thunderbolts and strikes with them whom He wills. And yet, they stubbornly argue about God, notwithstanding [all evidence] that He alone has the power to contrive whatever His unfathomable wisdom wills! 13 To call on Him is true (supplication). For those they invoke other than Him do not answer them at all, except like a man who stretches his hands towards the water that it reach his mouth, but it will never reach it. Not more than error are the prayers of infidels. 14 And to Allah only prostrate all those who are in the heavens and in the earth, willingly or helplessly – and their shadows – every morning and evening. (Command of prostration # 2). ۩ 15 Say: 'Who is the Lord of the heavens and of the earth?' Say: 'God.' Say: 'Then have you taken unto you others beside Him to be your protectors, even such as have no power to profit or hurt themselves?' Say: 'Are the blind and the seeing man equal, or are the shadows and the light equal? Or have they ascribed to God associates who created as He created, so that creation is all alike to them?' Say: 'God is the Creator of everything, and He is the One, the Omnipotent.' 16 He sends down from the sky, rain, and valleys flow according to their capacity, and the torrent carries a rising foam. And from that [ore] which they heat in the fire, desiring adornments and utensils, is a foam like it. Thus Allah presents [the example of] truth and falsehood. As for the foam, it vanishes, [being] cast off; but as for that which benefits the people, it remains on the earth. Thus does Allah present examples. 17 For these who answer their Lord is ordained good. And those who answer not their Lord - if they had all that is in the earth, and therewith the like thereof, they would ransom themselves therewith. These! for them shall be an evil reckoning; and their resort is Hell, a hapless bed! 18