Allah pardon you! Why did you give them leave until those who spoke the truth had become manifest to you and you had known the liars? 43 Those who believe in Allah and the Last Day would not ask permission of you to be excused from striving with their wealth and their lives. And Allah is Knowing of those who fear Him. 44 Only those who do not believe in God and the Day of Judgment ask you such questions because their hearts are full of doubts and they cannot make any final decisions. 45 ۞ And had they intended the going forth, they would have made some preparation therefor; but Allah was averse to their wending, wherefore He withheld them, and the word was passed: stay at home with the stay-at-homes. 46 Had they joined you, they would have been of no help to you but would have just caused confusion and trouble among you by sneaking through the ranks where some of you would be ready to listen to them. God knows best the unjust. 47 Indeed they had sought to cause turmoil at the outset, and O dear Prophet the scheme turned otherwise* for you, so much so that the truth came and the command of Allah appeared, and they disliked it. (* In your favour.) 48 Some of them ask you, "Make us exempt from taking part in the battle and do not try to tempt us by telling us what we may gain from the battle; many people have died in the battle." Hell certainly encompasses the unbelievers. 49 If good befalls you, it grieves them, but if a misfortune befalls you, they say, "We took our precautions beforehand!" They turn away rejoicing. 50 Say: "Never can anything befall us save what God has decreed! He is our Lord Supreme; and in God let the believers place their trust!" 51 Say: "Can you expect for us (any fate) other than one of two glorious things- (Martyrdom or victory)? But we can expect for you either that Allah will send his punishment from Himself, or by our hands. So wait (expectant); we too will wait with you." 52 Say, "Whether you spend your wealth for the cause of God, willingly or reluctantly, it will never be accepted from you; you are an evil doing people." 53 Nothing prevents their offerings from being accepted except that they do not believe in Allah and His Messenger. They do not come to the prayer except lazily and spend grudgingly. 54 So let not their possessions or their children please thee; God only desires thereby to chastise them in this present life, and that their souls should depart while they are unbelievers. 55 They swear by Allah that they are part of you whereas they are certainly not part of you. They are merely a people who dread you. 56 if they could but find a place of refuge, or any cavern, or a crevice [in the earth,] they would turn towards it in headlong haste. 57 And of them are some who traduce thee in respect of alms. Then if they are given thereof they are pleased and if they are not given thereof, lo! they are enraged. 58 If only they had been content with what God and His Messenger had given them and had said, "God is sufficient for us. God will give us out of His bounty, and so will His Messenger. To God alone do we turn with hope!" 59