O Ye who believe! remember Allah's favour unto you when there came unto you hosts, and We sent against them a wind and hosts which ye saw not, and Allah was of that which ye were working a Beholder. 9 When they came upon you from above you and from below you, and when the eyes grew wild and the hearts reached to the throats, and you were harbouring doubts about Allah. 10 There the faithful were put to the proof and they were shaken as if by an earthquake. 11 The hypocrites and people with sickness in their hearts said, "God and His Messenger have promised us nothing but delusions." 12 And when a party of them said: O inhabitants of Yathrib! there is no place for you, so return. And a part of them asked leave of the Prophet, saying: verily our houses lie open; whereas they lay not open; they only wished to flee. 13 If the (enemy) had entered the city from every side and asked them to rise in revolt, they would have done so, and not hesitated but a little; 14 although ere that they had vowed before God that they would never turn their backs [on His message]: and a vow made to God must surely be answered for! 15 Say, [O Muhammad], "Never will fleeing benefit you if you should flee from death or killing; and then [if you did], you would not be given enjoyment [of life] except for a little." 16 ۞ Say thou: who is there that will protect you from Allah if He intendeth to bring evil on you or intendeth mercy for you? And they shall not find for themselves, besides Allah, a patron or helper. 17 Verily Allah knows those among you who keep back (men) and those who say to their brethren, "Come along to us", but come not to the fight except for just a little while. 18 They are niggardly in spending for you. When fear comes, you can see them looking at you, their eyes rolling about like to faint because of the agony of death. When their fear subsides, they start to bite you with their sharp tongues. They are miserly in spending for a virtuous cause and have no faith. God has turned their deeds devoid of all virtue. This was not at all difficult for God. 19 They think the allies are not gone, and if the allies should come (again) they would fain be in the deserts with the desert Arabs asking for news about you, and if they were among you they would not fight save a little. 20