O assembly of jinn and men! did there not come to you apostles from among you, relating to you My communications and warning you of the meeting of this day of yours? They shall say: We bear witness against ourselves; and this world's life deceived them, and they shall bear witness against their own souls that they were unbelievers. 130 Your Lord did not want to destroy the towns, unjustly, without informing their inhabitants (of His guidance). 131 For all there will be degrees (or ranks) according to what they did. And your Lord is not unaware of what they do. 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 Verily that which ye are promised is sure to arrive, and ye cannot escape. 134 Say (O Muhammad): O my people! Work according to your power. Lo! I too am working. Thus ye will come to know for which of us will be the happy sequel. Lo! the wrong-doers will not be successful. 135 They allocate a share from God's own created fields and cattle to God, and they say: "This is God's" -- or so they think -- "and that, of the compeers of God," so that what belongs to the compeers does not reach God, but that which is God's may reach the compeers (set up by them). How bad is the judgement that they make! 136 And in like manner, their associate gods have made killing their children seem fair to many pagans, so that they may ruin them and cause confusion in their religion. Had God pleased, they would not have done so; so leave them to their false inventions. 137 They say: 'These animals and these crops are sacrosanct: none may eat of them save those whom we will' - imposing interdictions of their own contriving. And they declare that it is forbidden to burden the backs of certain cattle, and these are the cattle over which they do not pronounce the name of Allah. All these are false fabrications against Allah, and He will soon requite them for all that they fabricate. 138 And they say: "Whatever is in the wombs of these cattle is only meant for men and forbidden our women; but in case it should be still-born both could eat it." God will punish them for what they assert. He is all-wise and all-knowing. 139 Those who slayed their children in folly, without knowledge, and forbade the sustenance that Allah has provided them, falsely ascribing that to Allah, are utter losers; they have gone astray, and are certainly not among those guided to the right way. 140