NOW THOSE who have attained to faith say: "Would that a revelation [allowing us to fight] was bestowed from on high!" But now that a revelation clear in and by itself, mentioning war, has been bestowed from on high, thou canst see those in whose hearts is disease looking at thee, [O Muhammad,] with the look of one who is about to faint for fear of death! And yet, far better for them would be 20 Obedience (to Allah) and good words (were better for them). And when the matter (preparation for Jihad) is resolved on, then if they had been true to Allah, it would have been better for them. 21 Would ye then, if ye were given the command, work corruption in the land and sever your ties of kinship? 22 It is such as these whom God rejects, and whom He makes deaf [to the voice of truth,] and whose eyes He blinds [to its sight]! 23 Do they, then, not reflect on the Qur'an? Or are there locks on their hearts? 24 Lo! those who turn back after the guidance hath been manifested unto them, Satan hath seduced them, and He giveth them the rein. 25 That is because they say to those who hate what Allah has revealed: We will obey you in some of the affairs; and Allah knows their secrets. 26 hence, how [will they fare] when the angels gather them in death, striking their faces and their backs? 27 That is because they have followed what angers God, and have been averse to His good pleasure, so He has made their works to fail. 28