Say to the Unbelievers, if (now) they desist (from Unbelief), their past would be forgiven them; but if they persist, the punishment of those before them is already (a matter of warning for them). 38 And fight against them until the mischief ends and the way prescribed by Allah - the whole of it -prevail Then, if they give up mischief, surely Allah sees what they do. 39 And if they turn away, then know that Allah is your Befriender - a Transcendent Patron, a Transcendent Helper! 40 ۞ And know that whatever you take as war booty, a fifth of that belongs to Allah and His Noble Messenger, and to relatives, and orphans, and the needy, and the traveller – if you have accepted faith in Allah and what We sent down to Our bondman on the decisive day – the day when two armies had met; and Allah is Able to do all things. 41 (And remember) when you (the Muslim army) were on the near side of the valley, and they on the farther side, and the caravan on the ground lower than you. Even if you had made a mutual appointment to meet, you would certainly have failed in the appointment, but (you met) that Allah might accomplish a matter already ordained (in His Knowledge); so that those who were to be destroyed (for their rejecting the Faith) might be destroyed after a clear evidence, and those who were to live (i.e. believers) might live after a clear evidence. And surely, Allah is All-Hearer, All-Knower. 42 When O dear Prophet, Allah used to show the disbelievers in your dream as only a few*; and O Muslims, had He shown them to you as many, you would have certainly lost courage and disputed over the affair, but Allah rescued (you); indeed He knows what lies within the hearts. (* They numbered more but their actual strength was equal to only a few.) 43 And recall when He made them appear as few in your eyes when you met them in the battle just as He lessened you in their eyes so that Allah might accomplish what had been decreed. To Allah are all matters referred for decision. 44