The Quran

Preface

إِنَّ الَّذينَ يَشتَرونَ بِعَهدِ اللَّهِ وَأَيمانِهِم ثَمَنًا قَليلًا أُولٰئِكَ لا خَلاقَ لَهُم فِي الآخِرَةِ وَلا يُكَلِّمُهُمُ اللَّهُ وَلا يَنظُرُ إِلَيهِم يَومَ القِيامَةِ وَلا يُزَكّيهِم وَلَهُم عَذابٌ أَليمٌ

Yusuf Ali

As for those who sell the faith they owe to God and their own plighted word for a small price¹, they shall have no portion in the Hereafter: Nor will God (Deign to) speak to them or look at them on the Day of Judgment, nor will He cleans them² (of sin): They shall have a grievous penalty.

All our duties to our fellow creatures are referred to the service and faith we owe to God. But in the matter of truth an appeal is made to our own self-respect as responsible beings: is it becoming that we should be false to our own word, to ourselves? And then we are reminded that the utmost we can gain by falsifying God’s word or being untrue to ourselves is but a miserable price. We get at best something very paltry as the price for selling our very souls.
Even on sinners?ordinary sinners?God will look with compassion and mercy: He will speak words of kindness and cleanse them of their sins. But those who are in active rebellion against God and sin against their own light?what mercy can they expect?