[O Prophet!] Tell the unbelievers that if they desist from evil, their past shall be forgiven and if they revert to their past ways, then it is well known what happened with the people of the past. 38 Fight them, till there is no persecution and the religion is God's entirely; then if they give over, surely God sees the things they do; 39 If they refuse, be sure that Allah is your Protector - the best to protect and the best to help. 40 ۞ And know that anything you obtain of war booty - then indeed, for Allah is one fifth of it and for the Messenger and for [his] near relatives and the orphans, the needy, and the [stranded] traveler, if you have believed in Allah and in that which We sent down to Our Servant on the day of criterion - the day when the two armies met. And Allah, over all things, is competent. 41 Recall when your army was positioned at the less defensible brink of the valley, (the pagans') army had the more defensible higher side of the valley and the caravan was led (out of your reach) below. This situation did not take place according to your previous plans, otherwise, everything would have been different. (It was God's plan) to place you in a vulnerable position, exposed to the enemy and it was His plan to lead the caravan out of your reach) so that His decree that you would be granted a victory by a miracle would become a doubtless fact and so that those who were to be destroyed would face destruction with a clear knowledge of the Truth and those who were to survive would also survive with a clear knowledge of the Truth. God is All-hearing and All-knowing. 42 And recall when Allah showed them to you in your dream to be few in number. And had He showed them to you to be numerous, you would have flagged and disagreed with one another about fighting them. But Allah saved you. Surely Allah knows what is hidden in the breasts. 43 When at the time of your encounter He made them appear few in your eyes, and made you appear few in their eyes, it was so that God might bring about that which had been decreed. Everything returns to God. 44