Those who lagged behind of the desert Arabs will presently say unto thee: our properties and our households kept us occupied, so ask thou forgiveness for us. They say with their tongues that which is not in their hearts. Say thou: who can avail you in aught against Allah, if He intended you hurt or intended you benefit? Yea! Allah is of that which ye work ever Aware. 11 Yea! ye imagined that the apostle and the believers would never return to their households, and that became fair-seeming in your hearts, and ye bethought an evil thought, and ye became a people doomed. 12 Whoso believes not in God and His Messenger, We have prepared for the unbelievers a Blaze. 13 And Allah's is the kingdom. of the heavens and the earth; He forgives whom He pleases and punishes whom He pleases, and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. 14 When you set forth to take the spoils, those Bedouins who lagged behind will say: 'Let us follow you' They hope to change the Words of Allah. Say: 'You shall not follow us. Allah has said so before' They will reply: 'No, you are envious of us' Rather, they have only understood a little! 15 Say to the Arabs who lagged behind: 'You shall be called upon to fight a mighty nation, unless they embrace Islam. If you are obedient you shall receive a good wage from Allah. But, if you turn away, as you turned your backs before, He will punish you with a painful punishment' 16 There is no blame on the blind, nor on the lame, nor on the sick (if they do not go forth to fight). Allah will admit those who obey Allah and His Messenger to the Gardens beneath which rivers flow and will inflict a grievous chastisement on those who turn away. 17