147فَإِن كَذَّبوكَ فَقُل رَبُّكُم ذو رَحمَةٍ واسِعَةٍ وَلا يُرَدُّ بَأسُهُ عَنِ القَومِ المُجرِمينَMuhammad AsadAnd if they give thee the lie,1 say: "Limitless is your Sustainer in His grace; but His punishment shall not be averted from people who are lost in sin."I.e., regarding the Qur'anic statement (in verse 145) that God forbids only a few, clearly-defined categories of food. The pronoun "they" refers to the Jews as well as to the pagan Arabs spoken of in the preceding verses - both of whom claim that God has imposed on man various complicated restrictions in the matter of food. According to the Qur'an, the Jews are wrong in their claim inasmuch as they overlook the fact that the severe Mosaic food laws were a punishment for their past misdeeds (see 3:93) and, therefore, intended for them alone; and the pagan Arabs are wrong because their taboos have no divine basis whatsoever and are due to mere superstition.