۞ Permission to take up arms is hereby granted to those who are attacked; they have suffered injustice. God has all the power to give victory 39 who were expelled from their habitations without right, except that they say 'Our Lord is God.' Had God not driven back the people, some by the means of others, there had been destroyed cloisters and churches, oratories and mosques, wherein God's Name is much mentioned. Assuredly God will help him who helps Him -- surely God is All-strong, All-mighty 40 [well aware of] those who, [even] if We firmly establish them on earth, remain constant in prayer, and give in charity, and enjoin the doing of what is right and forbid the doing of what is wrong; but with God rests the final outcome of all events. 41 If they belie you, so too before them, the nation of Noah belied, and Aad and Thamood 42 And the people of Ibrahim and the people of Lut. 43 and the dwellers of Madyan; and [so, too,] Moses was given the lie [by Pharaoh]. And [in every ease] I gave rein, for a while, to the deniers of the truth: but then I took them to task - and how awesome was My denial [of them]! 44 How many a village We have destroyed in its harmdoing, so that it lies fallen upon its turrets, and how many an abandoned well, and empty palace! 45 Have they never journeyed through the land so that they have hearts to understand, or ears to hear with? It is not the eyes, but the hearts in the chests that are blind. 46 They ask you to hasten the punishment. Allah shall most certainly not fail His promise; but a Day with your Lord is as a thousand years of your reckoning. 47 How many towns did I respite at first though they were steeped in iniquity, and then I seized them! To Me are all destined to return. 48