Those of the dwellers of the desert who were left behind will say to you: Our property and our families kept us busy, so ask forgiveness for us. They say with their tongues what is not in their hearts. Say: Then who can control anything for you from Allah if He intends to do you harm or if He intends to do you good; nay, Allah is Aware of what you do: 11 Yea! ye imagined that the apostle and the believers would never return to their households, and that became fair-seeming in your hearts, and ye bethought an evil thought, and ye became a people doomed. 12 And whoever does not accept faith in Allah and His Noble Messenger – We have indeed kept prepared a blazing fire for disbelievers. 13 To Allah belongs the Kingdom of the heavens and the earth. He forgives whom He will and punishes whom He will. Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. 14 Those who were left behind will say, when ye set forth to capture booty: Let us go with you. They fain would change the verdict of Allah. Say (unto them, O Muhammad): Ye shall not go with us. Thus hath Allah said beforehand. Then they will say: Ye are envious of us. Nay, but they understand not, save a little. 15 Say to the desert Arabs who had stayed behind: "You will be called against a formidable people. You will fight them till they surrender. If you obey, then He will give you a good reward; but if you turn back, as you had done before, He will punish you with a grievous affliction." 16 It is not an offense for the blind, the lame, or the sick not to take part in the battle. Whoever obeys God and His Messenger will be admitted to the gardens wherein streams flow. God will make whoever turns away suffer a painful torment. 17