113وَلا تَركَنوا إِلَى الَّذينَ ظَلَموا فَتَمَسَّكُمُ النّارُ وَما لَكُم مِن دونِ اللَّهِ مِن أَولِياءَ ثُمَّ لا تُنصَرونَMuhammad AsadAnd do not incline towards, nor rely upon, those who are bent on evildoing1 lest the fire [of the hereafter] touch you: for [then] you would have none to protect you from God, nor would you ever be succoured [by Him].2The verb rakana comprises the concepts of inclining (in one's feelings or opinions) towards, as well as of relying on, someone or something, and cannot be translated by a single word; hence my composite rendering of the phrase la tarkanu. The use of the past tense in alladhina zalamu indicates - as is often the case in the Qur'an - deliberate and persistent evildoing; this term is, therefore, suitably rendered as "those who are bent on evildoing".According to Zamakhshari, the particle thumma at the beginning of this last clause does not signify a sequence in time ("and then" or "afterwards") but, rather, a stress on the impossibility (istib'ad) of their ever being succoured by God.