The Qur'an (Oxford World's Classics)

a
You are in no way accountable for them, nor they
for you; if you drove the believers away,
b
you would become one of
the evildoers. 
53We have made some of them a test for others, to
make the disbelievers say, ‘Is it these men that God has favoured
among us?’ Does God not know best who are the grateful ones?
54When those who believe in Our revelations come to you
[Prophet], say, ‘Peace be upon you. Your Lord has taken it on
a
‘His pleasure/approval’, or ‘to see His face’ (see ‘The Face, Divine and Human in
the Qur
an’, in Abdel Haleem, Understanding the Quran, 107–22); see also 92: 19–21.
b
Cf. 
80: 1. The Prophet was torn between his efforts to win over the nobles to save
them, and the humble believers, whom the nobles wanted him to get rid of, claiming that
they only congregated around him to gain prestige or material bene
fits. The Prophet
here is told that he should not worry about them and so become a wrongdoer by driving
away true believers.
Livestock
83
6: 54

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Himself to be merciful: if any of you has foolishly done a bad
deed, and afterwards repented and mended his ways, God is most
forgiving and most merciful.’
55In this way We explain the revela-
tions, so that the way for sinners may be made clear.
a
56Say, ‘I am
forbidden to worship those you call on other than God.’ Say, ‘I will
not follow your vain desires, for if I did, I would stray from the path
and cease to be rightly guided.’
57Say, ‘I stand on clear proof from
my Lord, though you deny it. What you seek to hasten is not within
my power. Judgement is for God alone: He tells the truth, and He is
the best of judges.’
58Say, ‘If what you seek to hasten were within my
power, the matter would be settled between you and me, but God
knows best who does wrong.’
59He has the keys to the unseen: no one
knows them but Him. He knows all that is in the land and sea. No
leaf falls without His knowledge, nor is there a single grain in the
darkness of the earth, or anything, fresh or withered, that is not
written in a clear Record. 
60It is He who calls your souls back by
night, knowing what you have done by day, then raises you up again
in the daytime until your 
fixed term is fulfilled. It is to Him that you
will return in the end, and He will tell you what you have done. 
61He
is the Supreme Master over His subjects. He sends out recorders to
watch over you until, when death overtakes any of you, those sent by
Us take his soul –
– they never fail in their duty. 
62Then they will all be
returned to God, their true Lord. The Judgement truly belongs to
Him, and He is the swiftest of reckoners.
63Say [Prophet], ‘Who is it that saves you from the dark depths of
land and sea when you humbly and secretly call to Him [and say], “If
He rescues us from this, We shall truly be thankful”?’
64Say, ‘God
rescues you from this and every distress; yet still you worship others
beside Him.’
65Say, ‘He has power to send punishment on you from
above or from under your very feet, or to divide you into discordant
factions and make some taste the violence of others.’ See how We
explain Our revelation in various ways, so that they may understand,
66yet your people still reject it even though it is the truth. Say, ‘I have
not been put in charge of you. 
67Every prophecy has its fixed time to
be ful
filled: you will come to realize this.’
68When you come across people who speak with scorn about Our
a
Another interpretation of this verse is that the way of the sinners is hereby made
distinct from the way of the righteous.