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 All have degrees according to what they have done; thy Lord is not heedless of the things they do. 132 Your Lord is the self-sufficient One, the merciful. If He wills, He can take you away and replace you by anyone He pleases, just as He raised you from the offspring of other people. 133 Surely what you have been promised shall come to pass; and you do not have the power to frustrate (Allah). 134 Say: O my people! act according to your ability; I too am acting; so you will soon come to know, for whom (of us) will be the (good) end of the abode; surely the unjust shall not be successful. 135 They appoint to God, of the tillage and cattle that He multiplied, a portion, saying, 'This is for God' -- so they assert -- 'and this is for our associates.' So what is for their associates reaches not God; and what is for God reaches their associates. Evil is their judgment! 136 Thus those associates of theirs have decked out fair to many idolaters to slay their children, to destroy them, and to confuse their religion for them. Had God willed, they would not have done so; so leave them to their forging. 137 They also say, "These animals and these crops are forbidden. None may eat them except those we permit." So they claim! There are some animals they exempt from labour and some over which they do not pronounce God's name, thus committing a sin against Him. He will requite them for the falsehoods they invent. 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 Lost, indeed, are they who, in their weak-minded ignorance, slay their children and declare as forbidden that which God has provided for them as sustenance, falsely ascribing [such prohibitions] to God: they have gone astray and have not found the right path. 140