˹Imagine˺ how many societies of wrongdoers We have destroyed, raising up other people after them!
21:11
When the wrongdoers sensed ˹the arrival of˺ Our torment, they started to run away from their cities.
21:12
˹They were told,˺ “Do not run away! Return to your luxuries and your homes, so you may be questioned ˹about your fate˺.”
21:13
They cried, “Woe to us! We have surely been wrongdoers.”
21:14
They kept repeating their cry until We mowed them down, ˹leaving them˺ lifeless.1
21:15
We did not create the heavens and the earth and everything in between for sport.
21:16
Had We intended to take ˹some˺ amusement, We could have found it in Our presence, if that had been Our Will.
21:17
In fact, We hurl the truth against falsehood, leaving it crushed, and it quickly vanishes. And woe be to you for what you claim!1
21:18
To Him belong all those in the heavens and the earth. And those nearest to Him are not too proud to worship Him, nor do they tire.
21:19
They glorify ˹Him˺ day and night, never wavering.
21:20
Or have they taken gods from the earth, who can raise the dead?
21:21
Had there been other gods besides Allah in the heavens or the earth, both ˹realms˺ would have surely been corrupted. So Glorified is Allah, Lord of the Throne, far above what they claim.
21:22
He cannot be questioned about what He does, but they will ˹all˺ be questioned.
21:23
Or have they taken other gods besides Him? Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “Show ˹me˺ your proof. Here is ˹the Quran,˺ the Reminder for those with me; along with ˹earlier Scriptures,˺ the Reminder for those before me.”1 But most of them do not know the truth, so they turn away.
21:24