Say to the disbelievers that if they desist, what has passed will be forgiven to them; and if they do the same, the tradition of former people has already passed. 38 So, fight them till all opposition ends, and obedience is wholly God's. If they desist then verily God sees all they do. 39 but if they turn away, know that Allah is your guardian, (He is) the best Guardian and the best Giver of victory. 40 ۞ Know that, whatever booty you take, the fifth of it is God's, and the Messenger's, and the near kinsman's, and the orphans', and for the needy, and the traveller, if you believe in God and that We sent down upon Our servant on the day of salvation, the day the two hosts encountered; and God is powerful over everything; 41 Recall when your army was positioned at the less defensible brink of the valley, (the pagans') army had the more defensible higher side of the valley and the caravan was led (out of your reach) below. This situation did not take place according to your previous plans, otherwise, everything would have been different. (It was God's plan) to place you in a vulnerable position, exposed to the enemy and it was His plan to lead the caravan out of your reach) so that His decree that you would be granted a victory by a miracle would become a doubtless fact and so that those who were to be destroyed would face destruction with a clear knowledge of the Truth and those who were to survive would also survive with a clear knowledge of the Truth. God is All-hearing and All-knowing. 42 When God showed thee them in thy dream as few; and had He shown them as many you would have lost heart, and quarrelled about the matter; but God saved; He knows the thoughts in the breasts. 43 And remember when ye met, He showed them to you as few in your eyes, and He made you appear as contemptible in their eyes: that Allah might accomplish a matter already enacted. For to Allah do all questions go back (for decision). 44