O you who have believed, remember the favor of Allah upon you when armies came to [attack] you and We sent upon them a wind and armies [of angels] you did not see. And ever is Allah, of what you do, Seeing. 9 When they came upon you from above and below you, when the eyes were stupefied with horror, and hearts jumped to the throats, and you made wild suppositions about God. 10 In that situation were the Believers tried: they were shaken as by a tremendous shaking. 11 And [remember how it was] when the hypocrites and those with hearts diseased said [to one another,] "God and His Apostle have promised us nothing but delusions!" 12 and when some of them said, "O you people of Yathrib! You cannot withstand [the enemy] here: hence, go back [to your homes]!" — Whereupon a party from among them asked leave of the Prophet, saying, "Behold, our houses are exposed [to attack]!" — The while they were not [really] exposed: they wanted nothing but to flee. 13 And if the armies had come upon them from the outskirts of Medinah and demanded disbelief from them, they would certainly have given them their demand and would not have hesitated in it except a little. 14 And certainly they had made a covenant with Allah before, that) they would not turn (their) backs; and Allah's covenant shall be inquired of. 15 Say: Flight shall not do you any good if you fly from death or slaughter, and in that case you will not be allowed to enjoy yourselves but a little. 16 ۞ Say: "Who is he who can protect you from Allah if He intends to harm you, or intends mercy on you?" And they will not find, besides Allah, for themselves any Wali (protector, supporter, etc.) or any helper. 17 Already Allah knows the hinderers among you and those [hypocrites] who say to their brothers, "Come to us," and do not go to battle, except for a few, 18 They reduce the help towards you; so when a fearful time comes, you will observe them looking at you with eyes rolling like one enveloped by death; then when the time of fear is over, they begin slandering you with sharp tongues in their greed for the war booty; they have not accepted faith, therefore Allah has nullified their deeds; and this is easy for Allah. 19 They think that the Confederates have not [really] withdrawn; and should the Confederates return, these [hypocrites] would prefer to be in the desert, among the bedouin, asking for news about you, [O believers, from far away;] and even were they to find themselves in your midst, they would but make a pretence at fighting [by your side]. 20