۞ O men! It is you, who stand in need of God, whereas He alone is self-sufficient, the One to whom all praise is due. 15 He could replace you by a new creation if He decided to. 16 that is surely no great matter for God. 17 No one who carries a burden bears another's load; and even if the burdened soul cry out for help none will carry the least of its burden, however close a relative it may be. You can only warn those who fear their Lord in secret and fulfil their devotional obligations. Whoever grows in goodness does so for himself. To God is the journeying back. 18 For [thus it is:] the blind and the seeing are not equal; 19 Nor is darkness (tantamount to) light; 20 nor shade and heat 21 and neither are equal the living and the dead [of heart]. Behold, [O Muhammad,] God can make hear whomever He wills, whereas thou canst not make hear such as are [dead of heart like the dead] in their graves: 22 Thou art naught but a warner. 23 Indeed, We have sent you with the truth as a bringer of good tidings and a warner. And there was no nation but that there had passed within it a warner. 24 If they give the lie to you now, those that went before them also gave the lie to their Messengers when they came to them with Clear Proofs, with Scriptures, and with the Illuminating Book. 25 So We seized the unbelievers. How great was the change I wrought in their condition then! 26