May God forgive you. Why did you allow them (to stay behind) without ascertaining who spoke the truth and who were liars? 43 Those who [truly] believe in God and the Last Day do not ask thee for exemption from struggling with their possessions and their lives [in God's cause] - and God has full knowledge as to who is conscious of Him: 44 They alone ask leave of thee who believe not in Allah and the Last Day, and whose hearts feel doubt, so in their doubt they waver. 45 ۞ Had they intended to set forth with you, they would have prepared themselves for it. But Allah did not like their going forth and held them back, and it was said: 'Stay back with those who stay back' 46 Had they gone forth among you, they would only have increased you in trouble, and run to and fro in your midst, seeking to stir up sedition between you; and some of you would listen to them; and God knows the evildoers. 47 Even prior to this, they tried to cause trouble and to turn your affairs upside-down until the truth came and the cause of God triumphed against their desires. 48 And among them there is he who says: Allow me and do not try me. Surely into trial have they already tumbled down, and most surely hell encompasses the unbelievers. 49 If good comes to you, it grieves them; but if hardship befalls you, they say: 'We have taken our precautions' and they turn away, rejoicing. 50 Say: "Never can anything befall us save what God has decreed! He is our Lord Supreme; and in God let the believers place their trust!" 51 Say: "Are you waiting for anything else but one of two good things for us, (victory or martyrdom)? Yet what we are waiting for you is the punishment of God, direct or through us. So keep waiting; we are waiting with you." 52 Say thou: expend willingly or unwillingly, it will not be accepted of you; verily ye are ever a people ungodly. 53 And their spending was not stopped being accepted, except because they disbelieved in Allah and His Noble Messenger, and they come to prayer with heavy hearts, and they do not spend except unwillingly. 54 Let neither their riches nor their children excite your admiration. Allah only wants to chastise them through these things in the present life, and to cause them to die while they are unbelievers. 55 And they swear by Allah that they are most surely of you, and they are not of you, but they are a people who are afraid (of you). 56 Had they but found a refuge, or caverns, or a place to enter, they surely had resorted thither swift as runaways. 57 And among them are such as find fault with thee [O Prophet] concerning [the distribution of] the offerings given for the sake of God: if they are given something thereof, they are well-pleased; but if they are not given anything thereof, lo! they are consumed with anger. 58 If only they had been content with what God and His Messenger had given them and had said, "God is sufficient for us. God will give us out of His bounty, and so will His Messenger. To God alone do we turn with hope!" 59