O you who have believed, remember the favor of Allah upon you when armies came to [attack] you and We sent upon them a wind and armies [of angels] you did not see. And ever is Allah, of what you do, Seeing. 9 When they came upon you from above you and from below you, and when the eyes turned dull, and the hearts rose up to the throats, and you began to think diverse thoughts of Allah. 10 There, the believers were tried and shaken with a mighty shaking. 11 It was there that the hypocrites and those whose hearts were sick, said, "The promise of God and His Messenger has proved to be nothing but deceit". 12 And when a party of them said: 'People of Yathrib (Madinah), there is no place for you here, therefore return' And a party of them asked leave of the Prophet, saying: 'Our houses are exposed' whereas they were not, they only wished to flee. 13 And if entrance had been forced against them from those quarters, and then they had been asked to apostatise, they would have done so, and but tarried about it briefly. 14 Yet before that, they made a covenant with Allah never to turn their backs. And covenants with Allah shall be questioned. 15 Say: "Of no gain will be your running away if you run from death or being killed, even then you will enjoy the good things of life but only for a while." 16 ۞ Say: "Who is he who can protect you from Allah if He intends to harm you, or intends mercy on you?" And they will not find, besides Allah, for themselves any Wali (protector, supporter, etc.) or any helper. 17 God certainly knows those among you who create obstacles (on the way that leads to God) and those who say to their brothers, 'Come quickly to us' and very rarely take part in the fighting. 18 Begrudging you all help, but when danger comes, you can see them looking at you with rolling eyes as if in their death throes; but once their fear has passed, they come to you and do glib-talking in their greed for wealth. Such men have no faith, so God has foiled their actions. This is indeed easy for God. 19 They think that the Confederates have not [really] withdrawn; and should the Confederates return, these [hypocrites] would prefer to be in the desert, among the bedouin, asking for news about you, [O believers, from far away;] and even were they to find themselves in your midst, they would but make a pretence at fighting [by your side]. 20