God knows what every female bears, and the wombs' shrinking and swelling; everything with Him has its measure -- 8 Knower of the hidden and the manifest! the Great! the Exalted. 9 Alike of you is he who hideth the saying and he who noiseth it abroad, he who lurketh in the night and he who goeth freely in the daytime. 10 he has attendant angels before him and behind him, who, by the Command of Allah watch over him. Allah does not change what is in a nation unless they change what is in themselves. Whenever Allah wants evil for a nation, none can ward it off. Other than Him, they have no guardian. 11 It is He who shows you the lightning, inspiring fear and hope, and gathers up the heavy clouds; 12 and the thunder extols His limitless glory and praises Him, and [so do] the angels, in awe of Him; and He [it is who] lets loose the thunderbolts and strikes with them whom He wills. And yet, they stubbornly argue about God, notwithstanding [all evidence] that He alone has the power to contrive whatever His unfathomable wisdom wills! 13 Only the prayer to Him is truthful; and whomever they pray to besides Him, do not hear them at all, but like one who has his hands outstretched towards water that it may come into his mouth, and it will never come; and every prayer of the disbelievers remains wandering. 14 And to Allah only prostrate all those who are in the heavens and in the earth, willingly or helplessly – and their shadows – every morning and evening. (Command of prostration # 2). ۩ 15 Say, "Who is Lord of the heavens and the earth?" Say, "God." Say, "Why do you take protectors other than Him, who can neither benefit nor harm even themselves?" Say, "Are the blind and the seeing equal? Is darkness equal to the light? Or have they assigned partners to God who create as He creates, so that both creations appear to them alike?" Say, "God is the Creator of all things. He is the One, the Almighty." 16 [Whenever] He sends down water from the sky, and [once dry] river-beds are running high according to their measure, the stream carries scum on its surface; and likewise, from that [metal] which they smelt in the fire in order to make ornaments or utensils, [there rises] scum. In this way does God set forth the parable of truth and falsehood: for, as far as the scum is concerned, it passes away as [does all] dross; but that which is of benefit to man abides on earth. In this way does God set forth the parables 17 Those who answer the call of their Lord will receive good rewards. Whatever those who have not answered the call of their Lord offer to redeem themselves, even if they offer double the wealth of the whole earth, will not be accepted. They will face a terrible reckoning and their dwelling will be hell, a terrible place to rest! 18