34:1  Praise be to God, to whom belongs what is in the heavens and what is in the earth, and praise be to Him in the Hereafter. He is the Wise, the All-Aware.

34:2  He knows what goes into the earth and what comes out of it, and what descends from the sky and what ascends in it. He is the Merciful, the Forgiver.

34:3  Those who disbelieved said, "The Hour will not come upon us." Say, "Yes indeed! By my Lord, it will come upon you." He is the Knower of the unseen. Not an atom's weight escapes Him, be it in the heavens or the earth, nor what is smaller than that or larger. All are but in a clear Record,

34:4  so that He may reward those who believed and did good deeds. They shall have forgiveness and a generous reward.

34:5  And those who strove to thwart Our revelations, they shall have the punishment of a painful affliction.

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

34:7  Those who disbelieved said, "Shall we direct you to a man who will inform you that when you have been totally torn to pieces, you will be created anew?

34:8  Has he fabricated lies about God, or is there madness in him?" Not so! Those who do not believe in the Hereafter have incurred the punishment and are in extreme misguidance.

34:9  Have they not seen that which lies before them and behind them of the heaven and the earth? If We will, We can make the earth swallow them up or make lumps from the sky fall down upon them. Indeed, in that is a sign for every servant who turns to God.

34:10  We bestowed upon David favour from Us: "O mountains and birds, echo with him." And We rendered iron malleable for him:

34:11  "Make suits of armour and measure the links precisely, and do good deeds. I am Seer of what you do."

34:12  And for Solomon, We subjected the wind. Its outward journey was one month, and its return journey was one month, and We caused a spring of molten copper to flow for him. And of the jinn, some worked for him by his Lord's permission. If any of them was to deviate from Our commands, We would let him taste the punishment of the Blaze.

34:13  They made for him whatever he wanted: sanctuaries, statues, bowls like pools, and cauldrons fixed to the ground. "O family of David, work and give thanks." Only a few of My servants are thankful.

34:14  Then, when We decreed death for him, nothing informed them of his death other than the earthly creature that started eating his staff. Then when he fell down, the jinn realised that had they known the unseen, they would not have remained in the humiliating punishment.

34:15  There was a sign for Sheba in their homeland: two gardens, on the right and on the left, "Eat from your Lord's provisions, and thank Him for a good land and a forgiving Lord."

34:16  Yet they turned away, and so We unleashed upon them the overwhelming torrent, and We replaced their two gardens with two gardens containing bitter tasting food, tamarisk and some sparse lote-trees.

34:17  That is how We repaid them for having disbelieved. And do We repay except the ungrateful one?

34:18  We placed between them and the villages that We blessed other villages that were within sight, and We proportioned the travelling distance between them: "Travel between them by night and day, in safety."

34:19  But they said: "Our Lord, lengthen the distance between our travel destinations." They wronged themselves, so We made them history and dispersed them into scattered fragments. Indeed, in that are signs for every patient and thankful person.

34:20  Satan has indeed confirmed his thoughts about them to be true, for they followed him except for a group of believers.

34:21  He had no authority over them for any purpose other than for Us to distinguish those who believe in the Hereafter from those who are in doubt about it. Your Lord is Guardian over all things.

34:22  Say, "Call upon those whom you have made claims for besides God, they do not possess a single atom's weight in the heavens nor the earth, nor do they have any share in them, nor does He have an assistant from among them."

34:23  Intercession with Him does not benefit except the one to whom He has granted permission. Then when terror has subsided from their hearts, they will say, "What did your Lord say?" They will say, "The truth, and He is the Most High, the Great."

34:24  Say, "Who provides for you from the heavens and the earth?" Say, "God. And indeed, either we or you are upon guidance, or are in clear misguidance."

34:25  Say, "You will not be questioned about crimes that we have committed, nor will we be questioned about what you do."

34:26  Say, "Our Lord will gather us together, then He will decide between us with the truth. He is the Deliverer, the Knowledgeable."

34:27  Say, "Show me those whom you have attached to Him as partners. No! Rather, He is God, the Dignified, the Wise."

34:28  We have not sent you except as a bearer of good news and a warner to all the people, but most people do not know.

34:29  And they say, "When will this promise come true if you are truthful?"

34:30  Say, "You have an appointed Day from which you cannot be delayed by one hour nor advanced."

34:31  Those who disbelieved said, "We will not believe in this Quran or in what came before it." If you could see the transgressors when they are made to stand before their Lord, throwing accusations at one another, those who were oppressed will say to those who were arrogant, "Were it not for you, we would have been believers."

34:32  Those who were arrogant will say to those who were oppressed, "Was it us who repelled you from the guidance when it came to you? No! You yourselves were criminals."

34:33  And those who were oppressed will say to those who were arrogant, "Rather, it was the scheming by night and day, when you commanded us to disbelieve in God and to set up equals to Him." They hid their remorse when they saw the punishment, and We placed the shackles around the necks of those who disbelieved. Are they being repaid except for what they used to do?

34:34  We have not sent a warner to any village without its folk who live in luxury saying, "We disbelieve in what you have been sent with."

34:35  And they said, "We have more wealth and children, and we are not to be punished."

34:36  Say, "Indeed, my Lord extends the provision to whom He wills and restricts it, but most people do not know."

34:37  It is not your wealth nor your children that will draw you close to Us; that is granted only to those who believe and do good deeds. They will receive double the reward for what they did, and they will reside securely in mansions.

34:38  And those who strive to thwart Our revelations, they will be arraigned unto the punishment.

34:39  Say, "My Lord extends the provision to whom He wills from among His servants and also restricts it for him. And whatever you have spent, He will replace it. He is the best of providers."

34:40  On the Day He gathers them all, He will say to the angels, "Was it you that these used to worship?"

34:41  They will say, "Glory to You, You are our Ally, not them. Rather, they used to worship the jinn; most of them had faith in them."

34:42  And so, "Today you possess no power to benefit or harm one another!" And We will say to the transgressors, "Taste the punishment of the Fire which you used to deny."

34:43  And when Our clear revelations are recited to them, they say, "This is nothing but a man who wants to repel you from what your fathers used to worship." And they say, "This is nothing but a fabricated lie." And those who disbelieve say of the truth when it comes to them, "This is nothing but clear magic."

34:44  We had not given them any Books to study, nor had We sent them any warner before you.

34:45  Those before them also denied, and they had not attained a tenth of what We gave these. They denied My messengers, so how great was My disapproval!

34:46  Say, "I only advise you with one thing: to stand for God, in pairs or individually, then reflect." There is no madness about your friend! He is only a warner who has come to you ahead of a severe punishment.

34:47  Say, "I have not asked you for any reward, for the reward is yours. My reward comes only from God, and He is Witness over all things."

34:48  Say, "My Lord casts the truth. He is the Knower of all the unseen."

34:49  Say, "The truth has come. Falsehood can neither initiate nor repeat."

34:50  Say, "If I stray, I stray to my own loss, and if I am guided, it is by what my Lord inspires to me. He is Hearer, Near."

34:51  If you could see them when they are terrified and with no escape, and they are seized from a nearby place,

34:52  they will say, "We believe in it," but how can they attain it from a faraway place

34:53  when they had rejected it in the past and were having a stab at the unseen from a faraway place?

34:54  They will be separated from what they desired, just as was done with their kind before. They were in grave doubt.