O believers, if you listen to the infidels they will make you turn your backs, and you will be the losers. 149 But Allah is your protector, and He is the best of helpers. 150 Into the hearts of those who are bent on denying the truth We shall cast dread in return for their ascribing divinity, side by side with God, to other beings - [something] for which He has never bestowed any warrant from on high; and their goal is the fire - and how evil that abode of evildoers! 151 And certainly Allah made good to you His promise when you slew them by His permission, until when you became weak-hearted and disputed about the affair and disobeyed after He had shown you that which you loved; of you were some who desired this world and of you were some who desired the hereafter; then He turned you away from them that He might try you; and He has certainly pardoned you, and Allah is Gracious to the believers. 152 ۞ When you were going up, not twisting about for anyone, and the Messenger was calling you in your rear; so He rewarded you with grief on grief that you might not sorrow for what escaped you neither for what smote you; and God is aware of the things you do. 153 Then, after sorrow He sent down peace [of mind] upon you in the shape of drowsiness that overcame some of you, but there were others who were anxious only about themselves. They entertained false notions about God, like the notions of the days of ignorance. "Have we any say in the matter?" they asked. Say to them, "All is in the hands of God." They conceal in their hearts what they would not reveal to you. They say, "Had we had any say in the matter, none of us would have been killed here." Say to them, "Had you stayed in your homes, those whose death had been decreed would nevertheless have gone forth to the places where they were destined to die." And all this befell you so that God might test what is in your minds. And in order to purify what was in your hearts. For God is aware of your innermost thoughts. 154 Those of you who turned back on the day the two hosts met (i.e. the battle of Uhud), it was Shaitan (Satan) who caused them to backslide (run away from the battlefield) because of some (sins) they had earned. But Allah, indeed, has forgiven them. Surely, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Forbearing. 155