O ye race of genii and mankind; came there not apostles unto you from amongst you recounting unto you My signs and warning you of your meeting of this Day? They will say: we bear witness against ourselves. The life of the world hath deluded them, and they shall bear witness against themselves that verily they had been infidels. 130 And this (so that it may be clear) that your Lord does not destroy towns and cities arbitrarily while the citizens remain unaware. 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 and Merciful. Had He wanted, He could have destroyed you and replaced you by other people, just as He had created you from the offspring of others. 133 Lo! that which ye are promised will surely come to pass, and ye cannot escape. 134 Say thou: O my people! go on acting in your way, verily I am going to act in my way, presently ye shall know whose will be the happy end of the abode; and verily the wrong-doers will not fare well. 135 They set aside for God a share in what He has produced, such as crops and livestock, and they say, "This is for God," so they claim!, and "this is for our associate-gods?" Their associate-gods' share does not reach God, whereas God's share reaches their associate-gods. How ill they judge! 136 And likewise, to many of the polytheists their partners have made [to seem] pleasing the killing of their children in order to bring about their destruction and to cover them with confusion in their religion. And if Allah had willed, they would not have done so. So leave them and that which they invent. 137 And they say: "Such-and-such cattle and fruits of the field are sacred; none may eat thereof save those whom we will [to do so]" - so they [falsely] claim; and [they declare that] it is forbidden to burden the backs of certain kinds of cattle; and there are cattle over which they do not pronounce God's name - falsely attributing [the origin of these customs] to Him. [But] He will requite them for all their false imagery. 138 They also say: 'What is in the bellies (wombs) of these cattle is reserved for our males but not for our wives' But if it is stillborn, they all partake of it. He will recompense them for their describing. He is Wise, Knowing. 139 Losers are they who slay their children in folly, without knowledge, and have forbidden what God has provided them, forging against God; they have gone astray, and are not right-guided. 140