Tell those who are bent on denying the truth that if they desist, all that is past shall be forgiven them; but if they revert [to their wrongdoing,] let them remember what happened to the like of them in times gone by. 38 Fight them until there is no more [religious] persecution, and religion belongs wholly to God: if they desist, then surely God is watchful of what they do, 39 and if they turn away [from righteousness,] know that God is your Lord Supreme: [and] how excellent is this Lord Supreme, and how excellent this Giver of Succour! 40 ۞ AND KNOW that whatever booty you acquire [in war,] one-fifth thereof belongs to God and the Apostle, and the near of kin, and the orphans, and the needy, and the wayfarer. [This you must observe] if you believe in God and in what We bestowed from on high upon Our servant on the day when the true was distinguished from the false - the day when the two hosts met in battle. And God has the power to will anything. 41 And when you were encamped on the nearside and they (the unbelievers) on the farther side, with the caravan below, had you made an appointment with them, you would have surely failed to keep it; but Allah sought to accomplish what He had ordained, so that by clear evidence, he who was destined to perish might perish, and he who was destined to live might live. Surely, Allah is Hearing, Knowing. 42 When God showed thee them in thy dream as few; and had He shown them as many you would have lost heart, and quarrelled about the matter; but God saved; He knows the thoughts in the breasts. 43 And so, when you met in battle, He made them appear as few in your eyes - just as He made you appear as of little account in their eyes - so that God might accomplish a thing [which He willed] to be done: for all things go back to God [as their source]. 44