۞ God was pleased with the believers when they swore allegiance to you under the tree, for He knew well what was in their hearts, and sent down tranquility on them, and rewarded them with an expeditious victory 18 and the booty which they received from it (the Battle). God is Majestic and All-wise. 19 Allah has promised you many gains that ye shall acquire, and He has given you these beforehand; and He has restrained the hands of men from you; that it may be a Sign for the Believers, and that He may guide you to a Straight Path; 20 And other (benefits) which you have not yet obtained, are within the compass of God, for God has power over everything. 21 And if those who disbelieve fight with you, they would certainly turn (their) backs, then they would not find any protector or a helper. 22 Such is Allah's Way that has come down from the past. Never shall you find any change in the Way of Allah. 23 It was He who restrained their hands from you in the heart of Makkah, and your hands from them, after He had given you victory over them, as God sees all that you do. 24 It was these who disbelieved and prevented you from the Sacred Mosque, and stopped the sacrificial animals from reaching their place; and were it not for some Muslim men and Muslim women, whom you do not know – lest you may crush them and unintentionally incur some violation due to them – Allah would have permitted you to slay them; this relief for them, is so that Allah may admit into His mercy whomever He wills; and had they been separated, We would have indeed punished the disbelievers among them with a painful punishment. 25 While those who deny the truth made it a prestige issue [in their hearts], the bigotry of the days of ignorance, God sent His tranquillity down on to His Messenger and believers and firmly established in them the principle of righteousness, for they were indeed better entitled to it and more worthy of it. God has full knowledge of all things. 26