Those of the dwellers of the desert who were left behind will say to you: Our property and our families kept us busy, so ask forgiveness for us. They say with their tongues what is not in their hearts. Say: Then who can control anything for you from Allah if He intends to do you harm or if He intends to do you good; nay, Allah is Aware of what you do: 11 Nay! you rather thought that the Apostle and the believers would not return to their families ever, and that was made fairseeming to your hearts and you thought an evil thought and you were a people doomed to perish. 12 But whosoever disbelieves in Allah and His Messenger; We have prepared a Blazing Fire for the unbelievers. 13 To God belongs the kingdom of the heavens and of the earth; whomsoever He will He forgives, and whomsoever He will He chastises; God is All-forgiving, All-compassionate. 14 Those who had stayed behind will say: "When you depart for taking the spoils, allow us to follow you." They wish to change the word of God. Tell them: "You will not follow us. That is what God has already said before." They will say: "You are envious of our gain." The fact is they understand but little. 15 Say to those of the dwellers of the desert who were left behind: You shall soon be invited (to fight) against a people possessing mighty prowess; you will fight against them until they submit; then if you obey, Allah will grant you a good reward; and if you turn back as you turned back before, He will punish you with a painful punishment. 16 There is no harm in the blind, nor is there any harm in the lame, nor is there any harm in the sick (if they do not go forth); and whoever obeys Allah and His Apostle, He will cause him to enter gardens beneath which rivers flow, and whoever turns back, He will punish him with a painful punishment. 17