﴿7-9﴾ “O you who believe, if you support Allah, He will support you and make your feet firm. As for those who disbelieve, ruin be upon them! He has rendered their deeds fruitless. That is because they detested what Allah sent down, so He rendered their deeds worthless.”

This is a command from Him Most High to the believers to support Allah by upholding His religion, calling others to it, striving against His enemies, and seeking Allah’s pleasure thereby. If they do so, Allah will grant them victory and make their feet firm: He will strengthen their hearts with patience, tranquility, and steadfastness, enable their bodies to endure, and aid them against their enemies. This is a promise from One who is Generous and true to His promise: whoever supports His cause through words and deeds will be granted victory by his Protector, who will facilitate for him the means to victory, including steadfastness and all else.

As for those who disbelieve in their Lord and support falsehood, they are in a state of ruin; that is, their affairs are reversed and they are forsaken.

“He has rendered their deeds fruitless”; that is, He has nullified the deeds by which they plot against the truth. Their schemes thus recoil upon them, and the deeds through which they claim to seek Allah’s pleasure come to nothing.

This frustration and ruin befall those who disbelieve because “they detested what Allah sent down”—the Quran, which Allah revealed for His servants’ well-being and success. They did not accept it; rather, they loathed and detested it. “So He rendered their deeds worthless.”