١AS FOR THOSE who are bent on denying the truth and on barring [others] from the path of God - all their [good] deeds will He let go to waste;
٢whereas those who have attained to faith and do righteous deeds, and have come to believe in what has been bestowed from on high on Muhammad - for it is the truth from their Sustainer - [shall attain to God’s grace:] He will efface their [past] bad deeds, and will set their hearts at rest.
٣This, because they who are bent on denying the truth pursue falsehood, whereas they who have attained to faith pursue [but] the truth [that flows] from their Sustainer. In this way does God set forth unto man the parables of their true state.
٤NOW WHEN you meet [in war] those who are bent on denying the truth, smite their necks until you overcome them fully, and then tighten their bonds; but thereafter [set them free,] either by an act of grace or against ransom, so that the burden of war may be lifted: thus [shall it be]. And [know that] had God so willed, He could indeed punish them [Himself]; but [He wills you to struggle] so as to test you [all] by means of one another. And as for those who are slain in God’s cause, never will He let their deeds go to waste:
٥He will guide them [in the hereafter as well], and will set their hearts at rest,
٦and will admit them to the paradise which He has promised them.
٧O you who have attained to faith! If you help [the cause of] God, He will help you, and will make firm your steps;
٨but as for those who are bent on denying the truth, ill fortune awaits them, since He will let all their [good] deeds go to waste:
٩this, because they hate [the very thought of] what God has bestowed from on high and thus He causes all their deeds to come to nought!
١٠Have they, then, never journeyed about the earth and beheld what happened in the end to those [willful sinners] who lived before their time? God destroyed them utterly: and the like thereof awaits all who deny the truth.
١١This, because God is the Protector of all who have attained to faith, whereas they who deny the truth have no protector.