۞ Permission [to fight] has been given to those who are being fought, because they were wronged. And indeed, Allah is competent to give them victory. 39 [They are] those who have been evicted from their homes without right - only because they say, "Our Lord is Allah." And were it not that Allah checks the people, some by means of others, there would have been demolished monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques in which the name of Allah is much mentioned. And Allah will surely support those who support Him. Indeed, Allah is Powerful and Exalted in Might. 40 The people who, if We give them control in the land, would keep the prayer established and pay charity and enjoin virtue and forbid from evil; and for Allah only is the result of all works. 41 If they have called you, (Muhammad), a liar, (remember that) the people of Noah, Ad, Thamud, 42 Those of Abraham and Lut; 43 and the dwellers of Madyan; and [so, too,] Moses was given the lie [by Pharaoh]. And [in every ease] I gave rein, for a while, to the deniers of the truth: but then I took them to task - and how awesome was My denial [of them]! 44 How many towns have We destroyed because their people were steeped in iniquity: so they lie fallen down upon their turrets! How many wells lie deserted; and how many towering palaces lie in ruins! 45 Have these people not travelled through the land to make their hearts understand and let their ears hear; the truth is that it is not the eyes that are blind but the hearts that are in the bosoms that are blinded. 46 And they ask thee to hasten on the torment, whereas Allah shall not fail His promise. And verily a day with thy Lord is as a thousand years of that which ye compute. 47 To how many habitations did We give respite, though given to wickedness, and then seized them. To Me they had to come back in the end. 48