۞ 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, have faith in God and His Messenger, the Book which is revealed to him, and the Bible which has been revealed before. Whoever refuses to believe in God, His angels, Books, Messengers and the Day of Judgment, has gone far away from the right path. 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 chose disbelievers for their friends instead of believers! Do they look for power at their hands? Lo! all power appertaineth to Allah. 139 He has sent down upon you in the Book: "When you hear His verses being disbelieved or mocked, do not sit with them until they engage in other talk, or else you will surely be like them. Allah will surely gather the hypocrites and unbelievers altogether in Gehenna (Hell). 140 These hypocrites watch you closely: if victory is granted to you by Allah, they will say: 'Were we not with you?' And were the unbelievers to gain the upper hand, they will say: 'Did we not have mastery over you, and yet we protected you from the believers?' It is Allah Who will judge between you on the Day of Resurrection, and He will not allow the unbelievers, in any way, to gain advantage over the believers. 141