O you who believe! do not take for guardians those who take your religion for a mockery and a joke, from among those who were given the Book before you and the unbelievers; and be careful of (your duty to) Allah if you are believers. 57 And when ye call for the prayer they make a mockery and fun thereof. This because they are a people who understand not. 58 (Muhammad), say to the People of the Book, "Do you take revenge on us because of our belief in God and what He has revealed to us and to others before us? Most of you are evil-doers". 59 Say: "Shall I tell you who, in the sight of God, deserves a yet worse retribution than these? They whom God has rejected and whom He has condemned, and whom He has turned into apes and swine because they worshipped the powers of evil: these are yet worse in station, and farther astray from the right path [than the mockers]." 60 When they come to you they say, "We believe," but they come [with the resolve] to deny the truth and leave in the same state. God knows best what they are concealing. 61 And you see many of them (Jews) hurrying for sin and transgression, and eating illegal things [as bribes and Riba (usury), etc.]. Evil indeed is that which they have been doing. 62 Why do not the rabbis and the religious learned men forbid them from uttering sinful words and from eating illegal things. Evil indeed is that which they have been performing. 63 And the Jews said, “Allah’s hand is tied"; may their hands be tied – and they are accursed for saying so! In fact, both His hands* are free, He bestows upon whomever He wills; and O dear Prophet, this Book which has been sent down upon you from your Lord will cause many of them to advance in their rebellion and disbelief; and We have instilled enmity and hatred between them till the Day of Resurrection; whenever they ignite the flame of war, Allah extinguishes it, and they strive to create chaos in the land; and Allah does not love the mischievous. (* This is a metaphor used to express Allah’s power). 64 And had the people of the Book believed and feared, We would surely have expiated from them their misdeeds and would surely have made them enter the Garden of Delight. 65 And if they had followed the teachings of the Torah and the Gospel, and what has been sent down to them by their Lord, they would surely have enjoyed (blessings) from the heavens above and the earth below their feet. 66