34:1  All praise belongs to Allah. Unto HIM belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth, and for HIM is the praise in the Hereafter. HE is the all-wise, the ever aware.

34:2  HE knows what slips into the ground and what emerges from it, and what descends from the sky and what ascends into it, and HE is the ever merciful, the forgiving.

34:3  The disbelievers have said, “The Hour is not to come upon us.” Say, “Yes Indeed! By my Rabb it will most surely come upon you. HE is the knower of the unseeable Reality. Not any particle’s weight in the heavens nor on the earth slips away from HIM. Neither smaller than that nor bigger, but it is in an ever-explicit indelible record—

34:4  So that HE may reward the ones who have embraced Faith and have done the right deeds. Those— for them is forgiveness and a generous sustenance.

34:5  And the ones who have striven to thwart OUR messages— those ones— for them is a chastisement of an agonizing pestilence.

34:6  The ones who were given the knowledge see that what has been sent to you from your Rabb is the Truth, and it guides to the path of the Almighty, the Praiseworthy.

34:7  While the ones who have disbelieved have said: “Shall we point you to a man who tells you that after you have been disintegrated to complete disintegration, you will categorically be in a new creation?”

34:8  “Has he invented a lie attributing it to Allah, or has madness beset him?” Nay, those who do not believe in the Hereafter are in the torment [of a false purpose], and in the far-gone error [of false worship].

34:9  Have they not considered what is visibly before them and what is beyond them of the sky and the earth? If WE were to will so, WE could cause the earth to swallow them or cause a fragment of the sky to drop down on them. Surely in that is a categorical sign for every penitent devotee.

34:10  WE did give David a bounty from US: “O mountains repeat with him [the praise of your Rabb] and O you birds.” And WE made iron supple for him:

34:11  “Get to making ample and exact artifacts and be precise in the assembly.” And work [you all] righteously. Know that I am ever seeing of whatever you all do.

34:12  And to Solomon [God bestowed the bounty of] the wind—its turning-on a pronouncement, and its turning-off a pronouncement. And WE caused a molten flow of a spring of copper for him. And from among the Jinn were those working under him by the permission of his Rabb. And whoever of them would deviate from OUR command WE would give him a taste of the punishment of the Blaze.

34:13  They would work for him on whatever he willed— of arched structures, architectural depictions, basins like reservoirs and in-place cauldrons. “Act with gratitude O descendants of David.” Seldom from MY free-willed servants is the [truly] grateful one.

34:14  Then when WE decreed death for him, nothing indicated his death to them [i.e., the Jinn], except a creature of the earth ate through his staff. Thereupon, only when he had fallen did the Jinn realize that had they known the unseeable, they would not have remained in their menial suffering.

34:15  There indeed was for the [people of] Sheba a sign in their dwelling places — two gardens on the right and the left, [inviting them]: “Eat of the sustenance of your Rabb and be grateful to HIM. A pristine land and a forgiving Rabb!”

34:16  But they were dismissive. So, WE sent upon them a flood of the dam, and WE transformed their two gardens into two gardens bearing bitter fruit, and tamarisks and some few Sidr trees.

34:17  Thus, did WE requite them for their ingratitude. Do WE requite [thus] any except the ungrateful?

34:18  WE had placed between them and the towns in which WE placed OUR blessings, prominent towns. And WE measured out the journey between them, [to say], “Travel therein by night and day in safety.”

34:19  But they said, “Our Rabb, place remoteness between our journeys.” They did wrong to their own selves, and so WE made of them tales, while WE scattered them to a total scattering. Verily, in that are definite signs for each gratefully committed one.

34:20  And Ib'līs did prove true his assumption of them, for they followed him except for a distinct group [composed] of all true believers.

34:21  It was not for him [i.e., Ib'līs]to have any power over them; but it was for US to prove out who believes in the Hereafter from he who is in doubt of it. Your Rabb is a guardian over each and every thing.

34:22  Say, “Call those you presumed to be [gods] besides Allah. They do not have a claim over a particle’s weight in the heavens or on the earth and there is no share for them in either. And not any of them is in any way a backup to HIM.

34:23  And not is the intercession with HIM of any benefit, except for someone HE has given permission to. [None will dare speak] until when the terror is lifted from their hearts, they will ask, “What did your Rabb say?” They will say, “[It was] the truth. And HE is the Supremely Exalted, the transcendent.”

34:24  Say, “Who provides sustenance for you from the heavens and the earth?” Say, “Allah. And surely, either we or just you are positively on guidance, or in clear error.”

34:25  Say, “You will not be asked about crimes we committed, and we will not be asked about what you are doing.”

34:26  Say, “Our Rabb, will gather [all that is] between us, and further to that HE will judge between us by the truth. HE is the One to unlock [the Truth], the One with complete knowledge.”

34:27  Say, “Show me the ones you have placed at par with HIM as HIS partners! It is not to be. Not ever! HE is Allah, the Almighty, the all-wise.”

34:28  WE have not sent you except as a conveyor of divine tidings and as a warner, to the entire humankind. But most of humankind know not.

34:29  And they say, “When is this promise to transpire, if you [believers] are truthful?”

34:30  Say, “You have a promised appointment of a day. You can neither hold [yourself] back from it a moment, nor get ahead.”

34:31  The ones who had disbelieved said, “We will never believe in this Quran, nor in that which is before it.” If you were to see when the wrongdoers, standing in the presence of their Rabb throwing back the words [of reproach] at one another: The ones who were deemed weak will say to the ones who had deemed themselves superior, “If it were not for you, we would surely have been believers.”

34:32  The ones who had deemed themselves superior said to the ones who were deemed weak, “Was it us who prevented you from the Guidance, after it had come to you? Nay! You are the flouters of divine guidance.”

34:33  And said, the ones who were deemed weak to the ones who had deemed themselves superior, “Nay, it was the [same unrelenting] scheme of night and day, when you bid us that we disbelieve in Allah and setup peers with HIM.” [Only] when they saw the punishment, did they acknowledge within themselves their true remorse and WE had affected the shackles in the necks of those who had disbelieved. Are they to be recompensed for anything except what they were doing?

34:34  WE have not sent any warner into a town, except that its affluent ones have said, “Of certain, we are disbelievers in what you have been sent with.”

34:35  And they said, “We have more of wealth and children— we are not the ones being anywise punished.”

34:36  Say, “Verily, my Rabb— HE expands provision for whosoever HE wills, and HE measures it out.” But most of humankind know not.

34:37  Not your wealth, nor your children are anywise that which move you nearer in advancement with US. Excepted is he who has believed and acted righteously. Such are those for whom is the multiplied reward for what they did, and they will be soundly secure in the high abodes [of Paradise].

34:38  And the ones who as challengers endeavor [to put doubt] in OUR messages, those are to be the ones arraigned and held in the punishment.

34:39  Say, “Of certain, my Rabb— HE expands the sustenance for whomever of HIS created beings HE wills, and HE measures it out for him. Whatever you spend of anything [in HIS way]— HE replaces it. HE is the best of the sustainers.

34:40  And on a day, HE will gather them all, then HE will ask the Angels, “Was it you these here were worshipping?”

34:41  They [will have] said, “YOURS is all glory and might. YOU are our protector, solely, other than them. Nay! They were worshipping the Jinn. Most of them were believers in them.”

34:42  So, this day none of you have any power over another, to confer a benefit or a harm and WE say to the ones who had done wrong, “Partake of the punishment of the fire which you used to deny.”

34:43  Whenever OUR verses are recited to them as telling proofs, they say, “This here is nothing but a [mere] man who intends to hinder you from that which your forefathers were worshipping.” And they say, “This is nothing but a concocted falsehood.” And the ones who have disbelieved have said about the Truth, whenever it comes to them, “This is nothing else but obvious magic.”

34:44  Even though WE have not given them any books [of Scripture] which they could be studying and neither did WE send any warner to them before you.

34:45  And the ones before them [also] gave the lie to the Truth, and they [the living ones] have not attained [even] to a tenth of what WE gave to those people. Yet they have denied MY messengers. So then how was MY negation [of the prior ones]?

34:46  Say, “I urge you to this one counsel only: “Stand before Allah, paired or singly, then do earnestly reflect: Your fellow man is not possessed. He is but a warner to you before a severe punishment is on hand.”

34:47  Say, “I have asked you not for any wage— [the wage is really] for you. My wage is not on anyone except Allah and HE is a witness over all things.”

34:48  Say, “Of certain, my Rabb— HE hurls the Truth— the defining knower of all that is hidden.”

34:49  Say, “The Truth has come and falsehood neither originates nor renews.”

34:50  Say, “If I should err, I would err against my own soul and if am rightly guided, it is through what my Rabb reveals to me. Surely, HE is ever hearing, ever near.”

34:51  If you were to see [from the perfect divine perspective] when they were shocked— for not is there any remoteness, and they were seized from a place nearby.

34:52  And they said, “WE have believed in it.” How and why the embrace from a place afar?

34:53  They had indeed disbelieved in it heretofore, while discarding the unseen from a place afar.

34:54  And an interdiction was placed between them and what they crave for, as was done with their kind before. Verily, they were mired in cynical distrust.