[And thus will God continue:] "O you who have lived in close communion with [evil] invisible beings and [like-minded] humans! Have there not come unto you apostles from among yourselves, who conveyed unto you My messages and warned you of the coming of this your Day [of Judgment]?" They will answer: "We do bear witness against ourselves!" - for the life of this world had beguiled them: and so they will bear witness against themselves that they had been denying the truth. 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 They all have their degrees according to their deeds. Your Lord is not inattentive of their actions. 132 Your Lord is Rich and the Owner of Mercy. He can destroy you if He will and replace you with whom He pleases, just as He raised you from the offspring of other nations. 133 Lo! that which ye are promised will surely come to pass, and ye cannot escape. 134 Say thou: O my people! go on acting in your way, verily I am going to act in my way, presently ye shall know whose will be the happy end of the abode; and verily the wrong-doers will not fare well. 135 And they assign to Allah a share of the tilth and cattle which He has created, and they say: "This is for Allah according to their pretending, and this is for our (Allah's so-called) partners." But the share of their (Allah's so-called) "partners" reaches not Allah, while the share of Allah reaches their (Allah's so-called) "partners"! Evil is the way they judge! 136 And likewise, their belief in beings or powers that are supposed to have a share in God's divinity makes [even] the slaying of their children seem goodly to many of those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God, thus bringing them to ruin and confusing them in their faith. Yet, unless God had so willed, they would not be doing all this: stand, therefore, aloof from them and all their false imagery! 137 And according to their pretending, they say that such and such cattle and crops are forbidden, and none should eat of them except those whom we allow. And (they say) there are cattle forbidden to be used for burden or any other work, and cattle on which (at slaughtering) the Name of Allah is not pronounced; lying against Him (Allah). He will recompense them for what they used to fabricate. 138 They have also said, "Whatever exists in the wombs of these animals belongs to our people alone and it is not lawful for our women." However, if they are born dead, then everyone will have a share. God will give them what they deserve for (their unjust laws). God is All-merciful and All-knowing. 139 Surely lost are they who slay their offspring foolishly and without knowledge, and have forbidden that which Allah had provided for them: a fabrication against Allah: surely they have strayed and have not become guided ones. 140