126وَإِن عاقَبتُم فَعاقِبوا بِمِثلِ ما عوقِبتُم بِهِ ۖ وَلَئِن صَبَرتُم لَهُوَ خَيرٌ لِلصّابِرينَMuhammad AsadHence, if you have to respond to an attack [in argument], respond only to the extent of the attack levelled against you;1 but to bear yourselves with patience is indeed far better for [you, since God is with] those who are patient in adversity.Lit., "retaliate [or "respond"] with the like of what you have been afflicted with": thus, the believers are admonished to observe self-restraint while arguing with people of another persuasion, and never to offend against decency and intellectual equity. Although retaliation in argument is permissible if one's integrity is impeached by an opponent, the sequence makes it clear that it is morally preferable to renounce it altogether and to bear the unjust attack with patience.