unto thee with truth. God will not deal unjustly
with his creatures. And to God belongeth whatever is in heaven and on
earth; and to God shall all things return. Ye are the best nation that
hath been raised up unto mankind: ye command that which is just, and ye
forbid that which is unjust, and ye believe in God. And if they who have
received the scriptures had believed, it had surely been the better for
them: there are believers among them, but the greater part of them are
transgressors. They shall not hurt you, unless with a slight hurt; and
if they fight against you, they shall turn their backs to you, and they
shall not be helped. They are smitten with vileness wheresoever they are
found; unless they obtain security by entering into a treaty with God,
and a treaty with men: and they draw on themselves indignation from God,
and they are afflicted with poverty. This they suffer, because they
disbelieved the signs of God, and slew the prophets unjustly; this,
because they were rebellious, and transgressed. Yet they are not all
alike: there are of those who have received the scriptures, upright
people; they meditate on the signs of God in the night season, and
worship; they believe in God and the last day; and command that which is
just, and forbid that which is unjust, and zealously strive to excel in
good works: these are of the righteous. And ye shall not be denied the
reward of the good which ye do; for God knoweth the pious. As for the
unbelievers, their wealth shall not profit them at all, neither their
children, against God: they shall be the companions of hell fire; they
shall continue therein forever. The likeness of that which they lay out
in this present life, is as a wind wherein there is a scorching cold: it
falleth on the standing corn of those men who have injured their own
souls, and destroyeth it. And God dealeth not unjustly with them; but
they injure their own souls. O true believers, contract not an intimate
friendship with any besides yourselves: they will not fail to corrupt
you. They wish for that which may cause you to perish: their hatred hath
already appeared from out of their mouths; but what their breasts
conceal is yet more inveterate. We have already shown you signs of their
ill-will towards you, if ye understand. Behold, ye love them, and they
do not love you: ye believe in all the scriptures, and when they meet
you, they say, We believe; but when they assemble privately together,
they bite t