O you who have believed, remember the favor of Allah upon you when armies came to [attack] you and We sent upon them a wind and armies [of angels] you did not see. And ever is Allah, of what you do, Seeing. 9 [Remember] when they came at you from above you and from below you, and when eyes shifted [in fear], and hearts reached the throats and you assumed about Allah [various] assumptions. 10 There the believers were tested and shaken with a severe shaking. 11 And when the hypocrites and those in whose hearts is disease were saying: Allah and His apostle have promised us nought but delusion. 12 and when some of them said, "O you people of Yathrib! You cannot withstand [the enemy] here: hence, go back [to your homes]!" — Whereupon a party from among them asked leave of the Prophet, saying, "Behold, our houses are exposed [to attack]!" — The while they were not [really] exposed: they wanted nothing but to flee. 13 If their town had been stormed, and they had been incited to sedition, they would have rebelled with little hesitation. 14 And verily they had already sworn unto Allah that they would not turn their backs (to the foe). An oath to Allah must be answered for. 15 Say: "Of no gain will be your running away if you run from death or being killed, even then you will enjoy the good things of life but only for a while." 16 ۞ Say: Who is he who can preserve you from Allah if He intendeth harm for you, or intendeth mercy for you. They will not find that they have any friend or helper other than Allah. 17 Surely God knows who among you obstruct, and those who say to their brethren: "Come to us," and go to battle but seldom, 18 being mean towards you. When fear comes to them, you see them looking at you, their eyes rolling as though they were on the point of death. But once the fear departs they assail you with their sharp tongues, being greedy to possess good things. Those have never believed; Allah has annulled their deeds. That is easy for Allah. 19 They assume that the armies of the disbelievers have not gone away; and were the armies to come again, their wish would be to go out to the villages seeking information about you; and were they to stay among you even then they would not fight, except a few. 20