۞ Allah was much pleased with the believers when they swore fealty to you under the tree. He knew what was in their hearts. So He bestowed inner peace upon them and rewarded them with a victory near at hand 18 and with abundant spoils which they shall acquire. Allah is Most Mighty, Most Wise. 19 God had promised you many spoils that you would capture; so He gave this soon enough to you, and stayed the hands of men from you that it may serve as a sign for believers, and guide you on the straight path; 20 And there are yet other [gains] which are still beyond your grasp, [but] which God has already encompassed [for you]: for God has power over all things. 21 If the unbelievers had fought you they would have been put to flight, and found none to protect or help them. 22 This is the tradition of God which existed before, and you will never find any change in His tradition. 23 It is He who restrained their hands from you, and your hands from them, in the hollow of Mecca, after that He made you victors over them. God sees the things you do. 24 It was these who disbelieved and prevented you from the Sacred Mosque, and stopped the sacrificial animals from reaching their place; and were it not for some Muslim men and Muslim women, whom you do not know – lest you may crush them and unintentionally incur some violation due to them – Allah would have permitted you to slay them; this relief for them, is so that Allah may admit into His mercy whomever He wills; and had they been separated, We would have indeed punished the disbelievers among them with a painful punishment. 25 While those who deny the truth made it a prestige issue [in their hearts], the bigotry of the days of ignorance, God sent His tranquillity down on to His Messenger and believers and firmly established in them the principle of righteousness, for they were indeed better entitled to it and more worthy of it. God has full knowledge of all things. 26