The Test (Al-Mumtahanah)
In the name of God, The Most Gracious, The Dispenser of Grace
O ye who believe! Take not my enemies and yours as friends (or protectors),- offering them (your) love, even though they have rejected the Truth that has come to you, and have (on the contrary) driven out the Prophet and yourselves (from your homes), (simply) because ye believe in Allah your Lord! If ye have come out to strive in My Way and to seek My Good Pleasure, (take them not as friends), holding secret converse of love (and friendship) with them: for I know full well all that ye conceal and all that ye reveal. And any of you that does this has strayed from the Straight Path. 1 If they gain dominance over you they will be your enemies, and will extend their hands and their tongues towards you with evil, and they wish that in some way you turn disbelievers. 2 But [bear in mind that] neither your kinsfolk nor [even] your own children will be of any benefit to you on Resurrection Day, [for then] He will decide between you [on your merit alone]: and God sees all that you do. 3 Indeed you have an excellent example in Abraham and those who followed him, when they said to their people, "We disown you and whatever you worship besides God. We renounce you. Enmity and hatred shall endure between us and you, until you believe in the one God." [The exception was] when Abraham said to his father, "I shall indeed pray for [God's] forgiveness for you; although I do not have it in my power to obtain anything from God on your behalf." They prayed, "O our Lord, in You we have placed our trust and to You we turn in repentance and to You is the final return. 4 Our Lord! make us not a trial for those who disbelieve, and forgive us, our Lord! verily Thou! Thou art the Mighty, the Wise. 5 In them, indeed, you have a good example for everyone who looks forward [with hope and awe] to God and the Last Day. And if any turns away, [let him know that] God is truly self-sufficient, the One to whom all praise is due." 6