And apostles before you were certainly mocked at, but I gave respite to those who disbelieved, then I destroyed them; how then was My requital (of evil)? 32 Is he, then, who is ever standing over every soul with that which he earneth, like unto other! And yet they have set up associates unto Allah. Say thou: name them; would ye inform Him of that which He knoweth not on the earth? or is it by way of outward saying? Aye! fair-seeming unto those who disbelieve is made their plotting, and they have been hindered from the way. And whomsoever Allah sendeth astray, for him there is no guide. 33 For them is torment in the life of the world, and surely the torment of the Hereafter is harder; and from Allah there is for them no protector. 34 ۞ A description of the Paradise which is promised to the pious; rivers flow beneath it; its fruits are unending, and its shade; this is the reward of those who fear; and the fate of the disbelievers is fire. 35 And those to whom We gave the Book* rejoice at what is divinely revealed to you**; and of those groups are some who deny parts of it; proclaim, “I am commanded only that I worship Allah and not ascribe any partner to Him; towards Him do I call, and towards Him only I have to return.” (* Scholars among the Jews and Christians who accepted faith. ** The Holy Qur’an.) 36 Thus, then, have We bestowed from on high this [divine writ] as an ordinance in the Arabic tongue. And indeed, if thou shouldst defer to men's likes and dislikes after all the [divine] knowledge that has come unto thee, thou wouldst have none to protect thee from God, and none to shield thee [from Him]. 37