AND SO, [O Prophet,] be not in doubt about anything that those [misguided people] worship:* they but [thoughtlessly] worship as their forefathers worshipped aforetime; and, behold, We shall most certainly give them their full due [for whatever good or evil they have earned], without diminishing aught thereof.*

And most certainly shall We try you by means* of danger, and hunger, and loss of worldly goods, of lives and of [labour's] fruits. But give glad tidings unto those who are patient in adversity

And most certainly did We overwhelm Pharaoh's people with drought and scarcity of fruits, so that they might take it to heart.

But excepted shall be* -from among those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God - [people] with whom you [O believers] have made a covenant and who thereafter have in no wise failed to fulfil their obligations towards you, and neither have aided anyone against you: observe, then, your covenant with them until the end of the term agreed with them.* Verily, God loves those who are conscious of Him.

AND UNTO [the people of] Madyan [We sent] their brother Shu'ayb.* He said: "O my people! Worship God [alone]: you have no deity other than Him; and do not give short measure and weight [in any of your dealings with men].* Behold, I see you [now] in a happy state; but, verily, I dread lest suffering befall you on a Day that will encompass [you with doom]!

Have, then, they [who deny the truth] never yet seen how* We visit the earth [with Our punishment], gradually depriving it of all that is best thereon?* For, [when] God judges, there is no power that could repel His judgment: and swift in reckoning is He!

Nay, We have allowed these [sinners] – as [We allowed] their forebears – to enjoy the good things of life for a great length of time:* but then – have they never yet seen how We visit the earth [with Our punishment], gradually depriving it of all that is best thereon?* Can they, then, [hope to] be the winners?

And [remember:] God creates [every one of] you out of dust,* then out of a drop of sperm; and then He fashions you into either of the two sexes.* And no female conceives or gives birth unless it be with His knowledge; and none that is long-lived has his days lengthened - and neither is aught lessened of his days - unless it be thus laid down in [God's] decree: for, behold, all this is easy for God.

Well do We know how the earth consumes their bodies,* for with Us is a record unfailing.

of one-half thereof* - or make it a little less than that,