May Allah forgive you*; why did you permit them** until the truthful ones had been manifested to you and the liars been exposed? (* This is an expression of love for the Holy Prophet – peace and blessings be upon him. ** The hypocrites had been permitted to stay back from the holy war.) 43 Those who believe in Allah and the Last Day will never ask your leave to be excused from striving (in the cause of Allah) with their belongings and their lives. Allah fully knows the God-fearing. 44 They only ask leave of thee who believe not in God and the Last Day, those whose hearts are filled with doubt, so that in their doubt they go this way and that. 45 ۞ Had they (the hypocrites) wanted to join your army, they would have prepared themselves, but God did not wish to motivate them, so He caused them to linger behind with those whose joining you in battle would be of no use. 46 Had they joined you, they would have been of no help to you but would have just caused confusion and trouble among you by sneaking through the ranks where some of you would be ready to listen to them. God knows best the unjust. 47 They have already tried to sow dissension, and hatched plots against you, until the truth became manifest and God's will prevailed, much to their disgust. 48 Some of them ask you, "Make us exempt from taking part in the battle and do not try to tempt us by telling us what we may gain from the battle; many people have died in the battle." Hell certainly encompasses the unbelievers. 49 Should good fortune alight on thee, [O Prophet,] it will grieve them; and should misfortune befall thee, they will say [to themselves,] "We have already taken our precautions beforehand!" - and will turn away, and will rejoice. 50 Tell them: "Nothing can befall us except what God decrees. Our protector is He, and in God should the faithful place their trust." 51 Say, "Do you await for us except one of the two best things while we await for you that Allah will afflict you with punishment from Himself or at our hands? So wait; indeed we, along with you, are waiting." 52 Say: 'Whether you spend voluntarily or reluctantly it shall not be accepted from you; for you are a wicked nation' 53 Nothing prevents that their expendings be accepted except that they disbelieve in Allah and His Messenger, and whenever they come to the Prayer they do so lazily, and whenever they spend they do so grudgingly. 54 Let neither their riches nor their children excite your admiration. Allah only wants to chastise them through these things in the present life, and to cause them to die while they are unbelievers. 55 They swear by Allah that they are truly of you while they are not of you, but they are a people (hypocrites) who are afraid (that you may kill them). 56 If they find a place of shelter or a cave or hole to hide, they will turn to it. 57 Some of them find fault with thee touching the freewill offerings; if they are given a share of them they are well-pleased, but if they are given none then they are angry. 58 If only they had been content with what God and His Messenger had given them and had said, "God is sufficient for us. God will give us out of His bounty, and so will His Messenger. To God alone do we turn with hope!" 59