How many a town rebelled against the commands of its Lord and His messengers and We called them sternly to account and punished them severely, 8 So it tasted the mischief of its action, and the end of its affair was loss. 9 Allah has prepared for them a severe torment. So fear Allah and keep your duty to Him, O men of understanding who have believed! - Allah has indeed sent down to you a Reminder (this Quran). 10 [He has sent] an apostle who conveys unto you God's clear messages, so that He might take those who have attained to faith and do righteous deeds out of the depths of darkness into the light. And whoever believes in God and does what is right and just, him will He admit into gardens through which running waters flow, therein to abide beyond the count of time: indeed, a most goodly provision will God have granted him! 11 GOD is He who has created seven heavens, and like them, [the many aspects] of the earth. Through all of them flows down from on high, unceasingly, His [creative] will, so that you might come to know that God has the power to will anything, and that God encompasses all things with His knowledge. 12