Lo! Allah is the Knower of the Unseen of the heavens and the earth. Lo! He is Aware of the secret of (men's) breasts. 38 It is He Who has made you the successors of your predecessors in the earth; so whoever disbelieves – (the harm of) his disbelief falls only on him; and for the disbelievers, their disbelief increases nothing in their Lord’s sight except disgust; and for the disbelievers, their disbelief increases nothing for them except ruin. 39 Say: Have ye seen your partner-gods to whom ye pray beside Allah? Show me what they created of the earth! Or have they any portion in the heavens? Or have We given them a scripture so they act on clear proof therefrom? Nay, the evil-doers promise one another only to deceive. 40 ۞ It is Allah who holds the heavens and the earth lest they vanish. Should they vanish, none would hold them after Him. He is the Clement, the Forgiving. 41 The unbelievers swore on oath emphatically that if an admonisher came to them they would be guided better than the other communities. But when the admonisher came to them their aversion for the truth increased, 42 [Due to] arrogance in the land and plotting of evil; but the evil plot does not encompass except its own people. Then do they await except the way of the former peoples? But you will never find in the way of Allah any change, and you will never find in the way of Allah any alteration. 43 Have they never journeyed about the earth and beheld what happened in the end to those [deniers of the truth] who lived before their time and were [so much] greater than they in power? And [do they not see that the will of] God can never be foiled by anything whatever in the heavens or on earth, since, verily, He is all-knowing, infinite in His power? 44 If God were to take men to task for their misdeeds, He would not leave a single living creature on the surface of the earth; but He grants them respite until an appointed time; and when their appointed time comes, then they will know that God is indeed observant of all His servants. 45