۞ Permission to fight is granted to those who are attacked, because they have been wronged, God indeed has the power to help them, 39 to those who were unjustly expelled from their homes only because they said, "God is our Lord." Had it not been for God's repelling some people through the might of the others, the monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques in which God is very often worshipped would have been utterly destroyed. God shall certainly help those who help Him. He is All-powerful and Majestic. 40 [well aware of] those who, [even] if We firmly establish them on earth, remain constant in prayer, and give in charity, and enjoin the doing of what is right and forbid the doing of what is wrong; but with God rests the final outcome of all events. 41 If they belie you, so too before them, the nation of Noah belied, and Aad and Thamood 42 And the folk of Abraham and the folk of Lot; 43 and so did the dwellers of Midian, and Moses too was branded a liar. Initially I granted respite to the unbelievers for a while and then seized them. How dreadful was My punishment! 44 How many a town We destroyed which was given to wrongdoing, so that its roofs fell down, and how many a well is deserted and how many a lofty castle is in ruins. 45 Have they not travelled in the land, and have they hearts wherewith to feel and ears wherewith to hear? For indeed it is not the eyes that grow blind, but it is the hearts, which are within the bosoms, that grow blind. 46 And they ask thee to hasten on the torment, whereas Allah shall not fail His promise. And verily a day with thy Lord is as a thousand years of that which ye compute. 47 To how many unjust towns have We given respite and then sized with torment. To Me do all things return. 48