﴿ إِلَّا ٱلَّذِينَ عَٰهَدتُّم مِّنَ ٱلْمُشْرِكِينَ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَنقُصُوكُمْ شَيْـًۭٔا وَلَمْ يُظَٰهِرُوا۟ عَلَيْكُمْ أَحَدًۭا فَأَتِمُّوٓا۟ إِلَيْهِمْ عَهْدَهُمْ إِلَىٰ مُدَّتِهِمْ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُتَّقِينَ ﴾

“But excepted shall be -from among those who ascribe divinity to aught beside God - [people] with whom you [O believers] have made a covenant and who thereafter have in no wise failed to fulfil their obligations towards you, and neither have aided anyone against you: observe, then, your covenant with them until the end of the term agreed with them. Verily, God loves those who are conscious of Him.”

Excepting those of the idolaters with whom you have made a pact, and who have not diminished [their commitment to] you in anyway, in other words, this is a declaration of non-obligation towards them, except those [of them] in whom there remains some grip on preparedness or the vestige of a sound primordial nature and so are not involved in the breaking of any covenant, there remaining in them virtuous manliness, an indication of the soundness of [their] primordial nature and their adherence to God's former covenant by virtue of the existence [within them] still of preparedness and the possibility [for them] of returning to the unity; nor supported anyone against you, because of the lingering presence [within them] of the original connection (wuṣla) and the primordial affinity between you and them and [because of] the non-manifestation of [in them] of that enmity which is earned (kasbiyya); [as for these] fulfil your pact with them until the [conclusion of the] term, that is, the term during which the rust accumulates [on their hearts] and [their] veil is realised should they not relent and repent. Truly God loves those who fear [Him], those who have specifically avoided despicable traits, [such as] the breaking of a covenant, which is the mother of all despicable traits outwardly and inwardly.