He propounds unto you a parable drawn from your own life: Would you [agree to] have some of those whom your right hands possess as [full-fledged] partners in whatever We may have bestowed upon you as sustenance, so that you [and they] would have equal shares in it, and you would fear [to make use of it without consulting] them, just as you might fear [the more powerful of] your equals? Thus clearly do We spell out these messages unto people who use their reason. 28 In fact, the unjust have followed their desires without knowledge. Who will guide those whom God has caused to go astray? No one will be their helper. 29 Then set your face upright for religion in the right state-- the nature made by Allah in which He has made men; there is no altering of Allah's creation; that is the right religion, but most people do not know-- 30 ۞ Turn in repentance to Him. Have fear of Him. Be steadfast in your prayer. Do not be like the pagans 31 [or] among those who have broken the unity of their faith and have become sects, each group delighting in but what they themselves hold [by way of tenets]. 32 When some affliction visits mankind, they call unto their Lord, turning to Him; then, when He lets them taste mercy from Him, lo, a party of them assign associates to their Lord, 33 [as if] to prove their ingratitude for all that We have granted them! Enjoy, then, your [brief] life: but in time you will come to know [the truth]! 34 Or have We sent down to them any proof, which therefore tells them of My partners? 35 And when We give people the taste of mercy they rejoice at it; and if an ill fortune reaches them because of what their hands have sent ahead – thereupon they lose hope! 36 Have they not seen how God increases the livelihood of whomever He wants and determines his share. In this there is evidence (of the truth) for the believing people. 37 So give the near relative, the needy, and the wayfarer their due -- that is best for those who seek God's pleasure: such men are the ones who will surely prosper. 38 Whatever you pay as interest so that it may increase the wealth of people does not increase in the sight of Allah. As for the Zakah that you give, seeking with it Allah's good pleasure, that is multiplied manifold. 39 Allah is He Who created you and provided food for you, then He causeth you to die, and then He shall quicken you. Is there any of your associate-gods that doth aught of that? Hallowed and exalted be He above that which they associate! 40