۞ Permission to fight is granted to those who are attacked, because they have been wronged, God indeed has the power to help them, 39 Those who were unjustly expelled from their homes just because they said, “Allah is Our Lord”; and had Allah not repelled some men by means of other men, the abbeys, churches, synagogues and mosques – in which the name of Allah is profusely mentioned – would definitely be demolished; and indeed Allah will assist the one who helps His religion; indeed surely Allah is Almighty, Dominant. 40 Those who, should We establish them in the land, will keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate and enjoin good and forbid evil; and Allah's is the end of 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 so too did the people of Abraham and the people 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 towns have We destroyed because their people were steeped in iniquity: so they lie fallen down upon their turrets! How many wells lie deserted; and how many towering palaces lie in ruins! 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 And they ask you to hasten on the punishment, and Allah will by no means fail in His promise, and surely a day with your Lord is as a thousand years of what you number. 47 To how many unjust towns have We given respite and then sized with torment. To Me do all things return. 48