۞ PERMISSION [to fight] is given to those against whom war is being wrongfully waged and verily, God has indeed the power to succour them: 39 they are those who have been driven out of their homes unjustly, only because they said, "Our Lord is God." If God did not repel the aggression of some people by means of others, cloisters and churches and synagogues and mosques, wherein the name of God is much invoked, would surely be destroyed. God will surely help him who helps His cause -- God is indeed powerful and mighty. 40 [And they are] those who, if We give them authority in the land, establish prayer and give zakah and enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong. And to Allah belongs the outcome of [all] matters. 41 If they belie you, so too before them, the nation of Noah belied, and Aad and Thamood 42 So did the people of Abraham and the people of Lot, 43 Midian, and Moses had also called their Prophets liars. I gave respite to the unbelievers, then sized them with torment. How terrible was that torment! 44 And how many a township have We destroyed because it had been immersed in evildoing - and now they [all] lie deserted, with their roofs caved in! And how many a well lies abandoned, and how many a castle that [once] stood high! 45 Do they not travel through the land, so that their hearts (and minds) may thus learn wisdom and their ears may thus learn to hear? Truly it is not their eyes that are blind, but their hearts which are in their breasts. 46 And they urge you to hasten the punishment. But Allah will never fail in His promise. And indeed, a day with your Lord is like a thousand years of those which you count. 47 How many towns did I respite at first though they were steeped in iniquity, and then I seized them! To Me are all destined to return. 48