۞ Permission to take up arms is hereby granted to those who are attacked; they have suffered injustice. God has all the power to give victory 39 they are those who have been driven out of their homes unjustly, only because they said, "Our Lord is God." If God did not repel the aggression of some people by means of others, cloisters and churches and synagogues and mosques, wherein the name of God is much invoked, would surely be destroyed. God will surely help him who helps His cause -- God is indeed powerful and mighty. 40 He will certainly help those who, if given power in the land, will worship God through prayer, pay the religious tax, enjoin others do good, and prevent them from committing evil. The consequence of all things is in the hands of God. 41 AND IF THEY [who are bent on denying the truth] give thee the lie, [O Muhammad, remember that, long] before their time, the people of Noah and [the tribes of] Ad and Thamud gave the lie [to their prophets,] 42 And the people of Ibrahim (Abraham) and the people of Lout (Lot), 43 and the inhabitants of Midian, to Moses they also belied. I respited the unbelievers, then I seized them, and how was My disapproval! 44 How many a village We have destroyed in its harmdoing, so that it lies fallen upon its turrets, and how many an abandoned well, and empty palace! 45 Have they, then, never journeyed about the earth, letting their hearts gain wisdom, and causing their ears to hear? Yet, verily, it is not their eyes that have become blind - but blind have become the hearts that are in their breasts! 46 And they demand of thee to hasten the chastisement! God will not fail His promise; and surely a day with thy Lord is as a thousand years of your counting. 47 And for how many a city did I prolong enjoyment while it was committing wrong. Then I seized it, and to Me is the [final] destination. 48