O ye who believe! if ye obey those who disbelieve, they will make you turn back on your heels, and ye turn back as losers. 149 But: Allah is your Friend, and He is the Best of helpers. 150 We will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve for what they have associated with Allah of which He had not sent down [any] authority. And their refuge will be the Fire, and wretched is the residence of the wrongdoers. 151 AND, INDEED, God made good His promise unto you when, by His leave, you were about to destroy your foes - until the moment when you lost heart and acted contrary to the [Prophet's] command, and disobeyed after He had brought you within view of that [victory] for which you were longing. There were among you such as cared for this world [alone,] just as there were among you such as cared for the life to come: whereupon, in order that He might put you to a test, He prevented you from defeating your foes. But now He has effaced your sin: for God is limitless in His bounty unto the believers. 152 ۞ Recall when you were fleeing without casting even a side glance at anyone, and the Messenger was calling out to you from the rear. Then Allah requited you by inflicting grief after grief upon you so as to instruct you neither to grieve for the losses you might suffer nor for the afflictions that might befall you. Allah knows all that you do. 153 Then, after inflict-ing this grief, He sent down an inner peace upon you - a sleep which overtook some of you. Those who were concerned merely about themselves, entertaining false notions about Allah - the notions of the Age of Ignorance - asked: 'Have we any say in the matter?' Tell them: 'Truly, all power of decision rests solely with Allah.' Indeed, they conceal in their hearts what they would not reveal to you, saying: 'If we had any power of decision, we would not have been slain here.' Say: 'Even if you had been in your houses, those for whom slaying had been appointed would have gone forth to the places where they were to be slain.' And all this happened so that Allah might test your secret thoughts and purge your hearts of all impurities. Allah knows well what is in the breasts of men. 154 Those of you who turned away on the day when the two armies met must have been seduced by satan on account of some of what they had earned. But Allah has pardoned them. He is Forgiving and Clement. 155