O Prophet! Strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites! Be harsh with them. Their ultimate abode is hell, a hapless journey's end. 73 They swear by God that they did not, yet they uttered the words of denial of truth after they had accepted Islam. They meditated a plot which they were unable to carry out, and being spiteful was their only response to God, who had enriched them out of His bounty, and to His Messenger. If they repent, it will indeed be better for them. If they turn away, God will punish them with grievous suffering in this world and the Hereafter, and there will be no one on earth to protect or help them. 74 ۞ And among them are those who made a covenant with Allah that, “If He gives us by His munificence, we will surely give charity and surely become righteous.” 75 But as soon as He has given them [aught] out of His bounty, they cling to it niggardly, and turn away in their obstinacy [from all that they have vowed]: 76 So following this, Allah put hypocrisy in their hearts until the day when they will meet Him – the result of their breaching the promise made to Allah, and because they lied. 77 Were they not aware that God knows all that they hide or whisper and that He has absolute knowledge of the unseen? 78 They who taunt those of the faithful who give their alms freely, and those who give to the extent of their earnings and scoff at them; Allah will pay them back their scoffing, and they shall have a painful chastisement. 79 Whether you (O dear Prophet Mohammed – peace and blessings be upon him) ask forgiveness for them* or not ask forgiveness for them; even if you ask forgiveness for them seventy times, Allah will not forgive them; that is because they disbelieved in Allah and His Noble Messenger, and Allah does not guide the sinful. (* for the hypocrites.) 80