Quran — Page 203

And as for the first and foremost of those who have forsaken the domain of evil and of those who have sheltered and succoured the Faith, as well as those who follow them in [the way of] righteousness - God is well-pleased with them, and well--pleased are they with Him. And for them has He readied gardens through which running waters flow, therein to abide beyond the count of time: this is the triumph supreme!

But among the bedouin who dwell around you there are hypocrites; and among the people of the [Prophet's] City [too] there are such as have grown insolent in [their] hypocrisy. Thou dost not [always] know them, [O Muhammad - but] We know them. We shall cause them to suffer doubly [in this world]; and then they will be given over to awesome suffering [in the life to come].

And [there are] others - [people who] have become conscious of their sinning after having done righteous deeds side by side with evil ones; [and] it may well be that God will accept their repentance: for, verily, God is much-forgiving, a dispenser' of grace.

[Hence, O Prophet,] accept that [part] of their possessions which is offered for the sake of God, so that thou mayest cleanse them thereby and cause them to grow in purity, and pray for them: behold, thy prayer will be [a source of] comfort to them-for God is all-hearing, all-knowing.

Do they not know that it is God alone who can accept the repentance of His servants and is the [true] recipient of whatever is offered for His sake - and that God alone is an acceptor of repentance, a dispenser of grace?

And say [unto them, O Prophet]: "Act! And God will behold your deeds, and [so will] His Apostle, and the believers: and [in the end] you will be brought before Him who knows all that is beyond the reach of a created being's perception as well as all that can be witnessed by a creature's senses or mind -and then He will make you understand what you have been doing."

And [there are yet] others-[people whose cases are] deferred until God wills to judge them: He will either chastise them or turn again unto them in His mercy-for God is all-knowing, wise.