۞ Leave is given to those who fight because they were wronged -- surely God is able 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 who, if We establish them in the land, perform the prayer, and pay the alms, and bid to honour, and forbid dishonour; and unto God belongs the issue of all affairs. 41 AND IF THEY [who are bent on denying the truth] give thee the lie, [O Muhammad, remember that, long] before their time, the people of Noah and [the tribes of] Ad and Thamud gave the lie [to their prophets,] 42 And the people of Ibrahim and the people of Lut, 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 village We have destroyed in its harmdoing, so that it lies fallen upon its turrets, and how many an abandoned well, and empty palace! 45 Have these people not travelled through the land to make their hearts understand and let their ears hear; the truth is that it is not the eyes that are blind but the hearts that are in the bosoms that are blinded. 46 They ask you to hasten the punishment; God will never go back on His promise. A Day with your Lord is like a thousand years in your reckoning. 47 And many a township did I give respite while it was given to wrong-doing. Then (in the end) I seized it (with punishment). And to Me is the (final) return (of all). 48