O People who believe! Remember the favour of Allah upon you when some armies came against you, so We sent against them a windstorm and the armies you could not see; and Allah sees your deeds. 9 When they came upon you from above you and from below you, and when eyes grew wild and hearts reached to the throats, and ye were imagining vain thoughts concerning Allah. 10 there the believers were tried, they were shaken, a severe quake. 11 The hypocrites and those in whose hearts there is a disease said: 'Allah and His Messenger promised nothing but delusion' 12 And when a party of them said: O inhabitants of Yathrib! there is no place for you, so return. And a part of them asked leave of the Prophet, saying: verily our houses lie open; whereas they lay not open; they only wished to flee. 13 If the enemy were to enter the town from various directions, and they were summoned to act treacherously, they would have succumbed to it and would have shown little reluctance in doing so. 14 They had already vowed before God that they would never turn their backs: and a vow made to God must be answered for. 15 (Muhammad), tell them, "Running away will never be of any benefit to you even if you run away from death or being killed. Still you would not be able to enjoy yourselves except for a short while." 16 ۞ Say (to them): “Who can protect you from Allah if He desires an evil for you? And who can prevent Him if He desires to show mercy to you?” They shall find none other than Allah to be their protector or helper. 17 Allah knows those of you who hinder, and those who say to their brothers: 'Come to us' and they do not come to the battle but a little, 18 They are niggardly in spending for you. When fear comes, you can see them looking at you, their eyes rolling about like to faint because of the agony of death. When their fear subsides, they start to bite you with their sharp tongues. They are miserly in spending for a virtuous cause and have no faith. God has turned their deeds devoid of all virtue. This was not at all difficult for God. 19 They think that the invading confederates have not yet gone. But if the confederates were to mount another assault, they would wish to be in the desert among the bedouins and keep themselves informed about you from there. But even if they remained in your midst, hardly would they fight. 20