34:1  Praise be to Allah, to Whom everything in the heavens and everything in the earth belongs, and praise be to Him in the Next World. He is the All-Wise, the All-Aware.

34:2  He knows what goes into the earth and what comes out of it, and what comes down from heaven and what goes up into it. And He is the Most Merciful, the Ever-Forgiving.

34:3  Those who are kafir say, ´The Hour will never come.´ Say: ´Yes, by my Lord, it certainly will come!´ He is the Knower of the Unseen, Whom not even the weight of the smallest particle eludes, either in the heavens or in the earth; nor is there anything smaller or larger than that which is not in a Clear Book.

34:4  This is so that He may recompense those who have iman and do right actions. They will have forgiveness and generous provision.

34:5  But those who strive against Our Signs, trying to nullify them, will have a punishment of agonising pain.

34:6  Those who have been given knowledge see that what has been sent down to you from your Lord is the truth and that it guides to the Path of the Almighty, the Praiseworthy.

34:7  Those who are kafir say, ´Shall we show you to a man who will tell you that when you have completely disintegrated, you will then be recreated all anew?

34:8  Has he invented a lie against Allah or is he possessed?´ No indeed! Those who do not believe in the Next World are in punishment and deeply misguided.

34:9  Have they not looked at the sky and the earth in front of them and behind them? If We willed We would cause the earth to swallow them up or make great lumps fall down on them from the sky. There is certainly a Sign in that for every remorseful slave.

34:10  We gave Dawud great favour from Us: ´O mountains and birds! echo with him in his praise!´ And We made iron malleable for him:

34:11  ´Make full-length coats of mail, measuring the links with care. And act rightly, all of you, for I see what you do.´

34:12  And We gave Sulayman power over the wind — a month´s journey in the morning and a month in the afternoon. And We made a fount of molten brass flow out for him. And some of the jinn worked in front of him by his Lord´s permission. And if a single one of them deviates at all from Our command, We let him taste the punishment of the Searing Blaze.

34:13  They made for him anything he wished: high arches and statues, huge dishes like cisterns, great built-in cooking vats. ´Work, family of Dawud, in thankfulness!´ But very few of My slaves are thankful.

34:14  Then when We decreed that he should die, nothing divulged his death to them except the worm which ate his staff; so that when he fell down it was made clear to the jinn that if they had truly had knowledge of the Unseen they need not have stayed there suffering humiliating punishment.

34:15  There was also a sign for Saba in their dwelling place: two gardens — one to the right and one to the left. ´Eat of your Lord´s provision and give thanks to Him: a bountiful land and a forgiving Lord.´

34:16  But they turned away so We unleashed against them the flood from the great dam and exchanged their two gardens for two others containing bitter-tasting plants and tamarisk and a few lote trees.

34:17  That is how We repaid them for their ingratitude. Are any but the ungrateful repaid like this?

34:18  We placed between them and the cities We had blessed other clearly conspicuous cities, making them measured stages on the way: ´Travel between them in safety by night and day.´

34:19  They said, ´Our Lord, put more distance between our staging posts.´ They wronged themselves so We made legends of them and scattered them without a trace. There are certainly Signs in that for everyone who is steadfast and thankful.

34:20  Iblis was correct in his assessment of them and they followed him, except for a group of the muminun.

34:21  He had no authority over them except to enable Us to know those who have iman in the Next World from those who are in doubt about it. Your Lord is the Preserver of all things.

34:22  Say: ´Call on those you make claims for besides Allah. They have no power over even the smallest particle, either in the heavens or in the earth. They have no share in them. He has no need of their support.´

34:23  Intercession with Him will be of no benefit except from someone who has His permission. So that when the terror has left their hearts they will say, ´What did your Lord say?´ They will say, ´The truth. He is the All-High, the Most Great.´

34:24  Say: ´Who provides for you from the heavens and earth?´ Say: ´Allah. It is certain that one or the other of us, either we or you, is following guidance or else clearly astray.´

34:25  Say: ´You will not be asked about any evil we committed and we will not be asked about what you did.´

34:26  Say: ´Our Lord will bring us all together and then will judge between us with the truth. He is the Just Decider, the All-Knowing.´

34:27  Say: ´Show me those you have joined to Him as associates. No indeed! He is Allah, the Almighty, the All-Wise.´

34:28  We only sent you for the whole of mankind, bringing good news and giving warning. But most of mankind do not know it.

34:29  They say, ´When will this promise come about if you are telling the truth?´

34:30  Say: ´You have a promised appointment on a Day which you cannot delay or advance a single hour.´

34:31  Those who are kafir say, ´We will never have iman in this Qur´an, nor in what came before it.´ If only you could see when the wrongdoers, standing in the presence of their Lord, cast accusations back and forth at one another! Those deemed weak will say to those deemed great, ´Were it not for you, we would have been muminun!´

34:32  Those deemed great will say to those deemed weak, ´Did we debar you from the guidance when it came to you? No, it is you who were evildoers.´

34:33  Those deemed weak will say to those deemed great, ´No, it was your scheming night and day when you commanded us to reject Allah and assign equals to Him.´ But they will show their remorse when they see the punishment. We will put iron collars round the necks of those who are kafir. Will they be repaid for anything but what they did?

34:34  We never sent a warner into any city without the affluent people in it saying, ´We reject what you have been sent with.´

34:35  They also said, ´We have more wealth and children. We are not going to be punished.´

34:36  Say: ´My Lord expands the provision of anyone He wills or restricts it. But the majority of mankind do not know it.´

34:37  It is not your wealth or your children that will bring you near to Us — only in the case of people who have iman and act rightly; such people will have a double recompense for what they did. They will be safe from all harm in the High Halls of Paradise.

34:38  But people who strive against Our Signs, trying to nullify them, such people will be summoned to the punishment.

34:39  Say: ´My Lord expands the provision of any of His slaves He wills or restricts it. But anything you expend will be replaced by Him. He is the Best of Providers.´

34:40  On the Day We gather them all together and then say to the angels, ´Was it you whom these people were worshipping?´

34:41  they will say, ´Glory be to You! You are our Protector, not them. No, they were worshipping the jinn. They mostly had faith in them.´

34:42  ´Today you possess no power to help or harm one another.´ And We will say to those who did wrong, ´Taste the punishment of the Fire which you denied.´

34:43  When Our Clear Signs are recited to them, they say, ´This is nothing but a man who wants to debar you from what your fathers used to worship.´ They say, ´This is nothing but an invented lie.´ Those who are kafir say to the truth when it comes to them, ´This is nothing but downright magic.´

34:44  We have not given them any books which they are studying nor did We send, before you, any warner to them.

34:45  Those before them also denied the truth but these people do not have even a tenth of what We gave to them. They denied My Messengers. And how complete was My denial!

34:46  Say: ´I exhort you to do one thing alone: to stand before Allah in pairs and on your own and then reflect. Your companion is not possessed. He is only a warner come to you ahead of a terrible punishment.´

34:47  Say: ´I have not asked you for any wage — it is all for you. My wage is the responsibility of Allah alone. He is witness of everything.´

34:48  Say: ´My Lord hurls forth the Truth — the Knower of all unseen things.´

34:49  Say: ´The Truth has come. Falsehood cannot originate or regenerate.´

34:50  Say: ´If I am misguided, it is only to my detriment. But if I am guided, it is by what my Lord reveals to me. He is All-Hearing, Close-at-hand.´

34:51  If you could only see when they are terrified, and there is no way out, and they are seized from a nearby place.

34:52  They will say, ´We have iman in it,´ but how can they reach out for it from a distant place -

34:53  when beforehand they had rejected it, shooting forth about the Unseen from a distant place?

34:54  A barrier will be set up between them and the thing that they desire, just as was done with their kind before. They too were in a state of crippling doubt.