۞ INDEED, well-pleased was God with the believers when they pledged their allegiance unto thee [O Muhammad] under that tree, for He knew what was in their hearts; and so He bestowed inner peace upon them from on high, and rewarded them with [the glad tiding of] a victory soon to come 18 And many gains will they acquire (besides): and Allah is Exalted in Power, Full of Wisdom. 19 God has promised that you will receive much booty. He has enabled you to receive this at this time and has protected you from enemies to make it an evidence (of the Truth) for the believers. He will guide you to the right path. 20 He also promises you other spoils which you have not yet taken, but Allah has encompassed them. Allah has power over everything. 21 And if the disbelievers were to fight you, they will turn away and flee, and then they will not find any supporter nor any aide. 22 such being God's way which has ever obtained in the past - and never wilt thou find any change in God's way! 23 It is He who withheld their hands from you, and your hands from them in the valley of Makkah, after giving you victory over them. God sees what you do. 24 [It was not for your enemies sake that He stayed your hands from them: for] it was they who were bent on denying the truth, and who debarred you from the Inviolable House of Worship and prevented your offering from reaching its destination. And had it not been for the believing men and believing women [in Mecca,] whom you might have unwittingly trampled underfoot, and on whose account you might have become guilty, without knowing it, of a grievous wrong: [had it not been for this, you would have been allowed to fight your way into the city: but you were forbidden to fight] so that [in time] God might admit to His grace whomever He wills. Had they [who deserve Our mercy and they whom We have condemned] been clearly discernible [to you,] We would indeed have imposed grievous suffering [at your hands] on such of them as were bent on denying the truth. 25 Whereas they who are bent on denying the truth harboured a stubborn disdain in their hearts - the stubborn disdain [born] of ignorance - God bestowed from on high His [gift of] inner peace upon His Apostle and the believers, and bound them to the spirit of God-consciousness: for they were most worthy of this [divine gift,] and deserved it well. And God has full knowledge of all things. 26