۞ O YOU who have attained to faith! Be ever steadfast in upholding equity, bearing witness to the truth for the sake of God, even though it be against your own selves or your parents and kinsfolk. Whether the person concerned be rich or poor, God's claim takes precedence over [the claims of] either of them. Do not, then, follow your own desires, lest you swerve from justice: for if you distort [the truth,] behold, God is indeed aware of all that you do! 135 Believers, believe in God and His Messenger and in the Scripture He sent down to His Messenger, as well as what He sent down before. He who denies God, His angels, His Scriptures, His messengers and the Last Day has surely gone far astray. 136 Indeed those who believe, then disbelieve and then again believe, then again disbelieve, and go further in their disbelief – Allah will never forgive them, nor ever guide them to the path. 137 Give tidings of painful chastisement to the hypocrites. 138 Those who take disbelievers for Auliya' (protectors or helpers or friends) instead of believers, do they seek honour, power and glory with them? Verily, then to Allah belongs all honour, power and glory. 139 And indeed Allah has sent down to you in the Book that whenever you hear the signs of Allah being rejected or being made fun of, do not sit with those people, until they engage in some other conversation; or else you too are like them; undoubtedly Allah will gather the hypocrites and the disbelievers, all together, into hell. 140 (The hypocrites) wait and watch. If God grants you victory, they say, "Did we not help you?" If the unbelievers are victorious, they say, "Did we not encourage you not to surrender to the believers and did we not protect you from them?" God will judge among you on the Day of Judgment. He will never help the disbelievers against the believers. 141