O Prophet, strive against those who deny the truth and the hypocrites, and be firm against them. Their abode shall be Hell: an evil destination. 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 of them is he who made a covenant with Allah (saying): If He give us of His bounty we will give alms and become of the 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 whereupon He causes hypocrisy to take root in their hearts, [therein to remain] until the Day on which they shall meet Him" - because they have failed to fulfil the vow which they had made unto God, and because they were wont to lie. 77 Knew they not that Allah knoweth their secret and their whisper, and that Allah is the Knower of Things Hidden! 78 He also knows (the rich that are niggardly) who taunt the believers that voluntarily give alms, they scoff at those who have nothing to give except what they earn through their hard toil. Allah scoffs at them in return. A grievous chastisement awaits them. 79 Ask pardon for them, or ask not pardon for them; if thou askest pardon for them seventy times, God will not pardon them; that, because they disbelieved in God and His Messenger; God guides not the people of the ungodly. 80