Those who believe ask why no chapter [about fighting] has been sent down. Yet when a decisive chapter that mentions fighting is sent down, you can see the sick of heart looking at you [Prophet] as if they were under the shadow of death. Therefore, woe to them! 20 Were it to obey and say what is just, and when a matter is resolved on, it were best for them if they were true to Allah. 21 Would you then, if you were given the authority, do mischief in the land, and sever your ties of kinship? 22 Such are the men whom Allah has cursed for He has made them deaf and blinded their sight. 23 Will they then not meditate on the Qur'an, or are there locks on the hearts? 24 Certainly those who have turned their backs on the True Guidance after it became manifest to them, Satan has embellished their ways for them and has buoyed them up with false hopes. 25 That is because they say unto those who hate what Allah hath revealed: We will obey you in some matters; and Allah knoweth their secret talk. 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 a way that angered Allah, and have been averse to His good pleasure. So He reduced all their works to nought. 28