Say to those who have disbelieved [that] if they cease, what has previously occurred will be forgiven for them. But if they return [to hostility] - then the precedent of the former [rebellious] peoples has already taken place. 38 And fight with them until there is no more persecution and religion should be only for Allah; but if they desist, then surely Allah sees what they do. 39 And if they turn away, then know that Allah is your Befriender - a Transcendent Patron, a Transcendent Helper! 40 ۞ AND KNOW that whatever booty you acquire [in war,] one-fifth thereof belongs to God and the Apostle, and the near of kin, and the orphans, and the needy, and the wayfarer. [This you must observe] if you believe in God and in what We bestowed from on high upon Our servant on the day when the true was distinguished from the false - the day when the two hosts met in battle. And God has the power to will anything. 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 God showed (the Makkans) to be few in your dream, for if He had shown them to be many you would surely have lost courage and disagreed about the (wisdom) of the battle. But God spared you this, for He surely knows what is in the hearts of men. 43 And recall when He made them appear as few in your eyes when you met them in the battle just as He lessened you in their eyes so that Allah might accomplish what had been decreed. To Allah are all matters referred for decision. 44