Believers, if you fear God, He will give you guidance, will expiate your bad deeds and forgive you. God's favors are the greatest. 29 And recall what time those who disbelieved were plotting against thee to confine thee or to slay thee or to drive thee forth: they were plotting and Allah was plotting, and Allah is the Best of plotters. 30 And when Our communications are recited to them, they say: We have heard indeed; if we pleased we could say the like of it; this is nothing but the stories of the ancients. 31 When they say: 'O Allah, if this is indeed the truth from You, rain down upon us stones from heaven or bring us a painful punishment.' 32 And Allah is not one to chastise them whilst thou art in their midst, nor was Allah going to chastise them while they were asking forgiveness. 33 But what have they [now] in their favour that God should not chastise them - seeing that they bar [the believers] from the Inviolable House of Worship, although they are not its [rightful] guardians? None but the God-conscious can be its guardians: but of this most of these [evildoers] are unaware; 34 Their prayers at the Sacred House are nothing but whistling and clapping of hands. "So taste the punishment because of your denial." 35 Indeed the disbelievers spend their wealth in order to prevent people from the way of Allah; so they will spend it now, and then regret over it, then they will be defeated; and the disbelievers will be gathered towards hell. 36 That God may separate the bad from the good, and link the wicked together and cast them into Hell. These are verily the people who will lose. 37