Ye have indeed in the Messenger of Allah a beautiful pattern (of conduct) for any one whose hope is in Allah and the Final Day, and who engages much in the Praise of Allah. 21 And when the believers saw the companies, they said, "This is what Allah and His Messenger had promised us, and Allah and His Messenger spoke the truth." And it increased them only in faith and acceptance. 22 Among the believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah [i.e. they have gone out for Jihad (holy fighting), and showed not their backs to the disbelievers], of them some have fulfilled their obligations (i.e. have been martyred), and some of them are still waiting, but they have never changed [i.e. they never proved treacherous to their covenant which they concluded with Allah] in the least. 23 God will surely reward the truthful for their truthfulness and punish the hypocrites, if He so wishes, or He may accept their repentance, for God is forgiving and merciful. 24 Allah sent back the unbelievers in their rage, and they gained no good. Allah spared the believers from fighting, surely Allah is the Strong, the Mighty. 25 And He brought down those who supported them among the People of the Scripture from their fortresses and cast terror into their hearts [so that] a party you killed, and you took captive a party. 26 He made you heirs to their lands, and their houses, and their possessions and lands on which you had not set foot before. God has power over all things. 27