People pray as earnestly to gain evil as one should to gain virtue. But people are hasty. 11 We have made the day and night each as evidence (of Our existence). The night is invisible and the day is visible so that you may seek favors from your Lord and determine the number of years and mark the passing of time. For everything We have given a detailed explanation. 12 And [for] every person We have imposed his fate upon his neck, and We will produce for him on the Day of Resurrection a record which he will encounter spread open. 13 'Read thy book! Thy soul suffices thee this day as a reckoner against thee.' 14 Whosoever is guided is only guided for his own self, and whosoever goes astray it is only against it. No soul shall bear another's burden. Nor do We punish until we have sent a Messenger. 15 But when [this has been done, and] it is Our will to destroy a community, We convey Our last warning to those of its people who have lost themselves entirely in the pursuit of pleasures; and [if] they [continue to] act sinfully, the sentence [of doom] passed on the community takes effect, and We break it to smithereens. 16 And how many of the generations did We destroy after Nuh! and your Lord is sufficient as Knowing and Seeing with regard to His servants' faults. 17 If anyone desires immediate benefits, We hasten to grant whatever benefits We will in the present life to whomsoever We please, but thereafter We decree for him Hell wherein he shall burn, condemned and rejected. 18 But he who desires the Hereafter and strives for it in the manner he should, and is a true believer, his striving will come to fruition. 19 To each - these and those - We extend of the bestowment of thy Lord; and the bestowment of thy Lord is never restrained. 20 Observe how We have given superiority to some over others; and indeed the Hereafter is the greatest in rank and the highest in excellence. 21 Do not set up with Allah another god, or you will sit condemned and forsaken. 22