YOU ARE indeed the best community that has ever been brought forth for [the good of] mankind: you enjoin the doing of what is right and forbid the doing of what is wrong, and you believe in God. Now if the followers of earlier revelation had attained to [this kind of] faith, it would have been for their own good; [but only few] among them are believers, while most of them are iniquitous: 110 They will do you no harm, barring a trifling annoyance; and if they fight against you, they will show you their backs, and they will not be helped. 111 Disgrace has been destined for them – wherever they are they shall not find peace, except by a rope from Allah and a rope from men – and they have deserved the wrath of Allah, and misery is destined for them; that is because they used to disbelieve in the signs of Allah, and unjustly martyr the Prophets; that was for their disobedience and transgression. 112 ۞ The People of the Book are not all the same. Some of them are straightforward. They recite the words of God in prostration at night. 113 They believe in Allah and the last day, and they enjoin what is right and forbid the wrong and they strive with one another in hastening to good deeds, and those are among the good. 114 And whatever good they do, they shall never be denied the reward thereof: for, God has full knowledge of those who are conscious of Him. 115 Indeed, those who disbelieve - never will their wealth or their children avail them against Allah at all, and those are the companions of the Fire; they will abide therein eternally. 116 The example of what they spend in this worldly life is similar to the freezing cold wind which struck the fields of a nation who wronged themselves, and destroyed it completely; and Allah did not oppress them, but it is they who wronged themselves. 117 Believers, do not take intimates with other than your own. They spare nothing to ruin you, they yearn for you to suffer. Hatred has already shown itself from their mouths, and what their chests conceal is yet greater. Indeed, We have made clear to you the signs, if you understand. 118 Lo! It is you who love them but they do not love you even though you believe in the whole of the (heavenly) Book. When they meet you they say: 'We believe', but when they are by themselves they bite their fingers in rage at you. Say: 'Perish in your rage.' Allah knows even what lies hidden in their breasts. 119 Whenever something good happens to you, it grieves them; but when evil befalls you, they rejoice. If you persevere and fear God, their designs will never harm you in the least: God encompasses all that they do. 120