O you who believe take not the disbelievers as friends instead of the believers: do you desire to give God over you a clear warrantḍ He repeated the admonition to them and confirmed the command to separate themselves from enemies. This was to emphasize the warning strengthen the prohibition and end the argument by putting a stop to any possible excuses. Do you desire to give God over you a clear warrantḍ He warned them about their friendship with the disbelievers over and above other oppo- sitional acts because it involves a preference for something other than the [appropriate] object of adoration maʿbūd. Preferring another to the beloved maḥbūb is the gravest of sins in the precepts of love aḥkām al-widād. When one's heart becomes engaged with others in the place reserved for believers this necessarily brings about a bad outcome. How should one's heart be engaged with others in the place reserved for the Realḍ The punishment He promised them was to leave them to their own devices and to what they had chosen [when they] sided with the disbeliev- ers. What a wretched substitution! It is the same with those who remain apart from the Real ḥaqq-He leaves them with created beings khalq. He doubles their affliction by their remaining apart from the Real lil-baqāÌi ʿan al-ḥaqq and remaining with created beings wa-l-baqāÌi maʿa al-khalq. Both of these are severe punishments.
