May God pardon thee [O Prophet]! Why didst thou grant them permission [to stay at home] ere it had become obvious to thee as to who was speaking the truth, and [ere] thou camest to know [who were] the liars? 43 Those who believe in Allah and the Last Day will not ask your permission so that they may struggle with their wealth and their selves. Allah knows best the righteous. 44 Only those ask for such an exemption from you who do not believe in Allah and the Last Day, and whose hearts are in doubt - so they waver in their doubts. 45 ۞ If they had intended to go out they would surely have made preparations. But God did not like their setting forth, and they were held back and told: "Stay at home with those who stay behind." 46 Had they gone forth among you, they would only have increased you in trouble, and run to and fro in your midst, seeking to stir up sedition between you; and some of you would listen to them; and God knows the evildoers. 47 Verily, they had plotted sedition before, and had upset matters for you, - until the truth (victory) came and the Decree of Allah (His Religion, Islam) became manifest though they hated it. 48 And of them there is he who saith: give me leave, and tempt me not. Lo! into temptation they are already fallen, and verily the Hell is the encompasser of the infidels. 49 If good fortune befalls you, it vexes them; and if an affliction befalls you, they turn away in jubilation and say: "We have taken due care of our affairs in good time." 50 Say: "Never can anything befall us save what God has decreed! He is our Lord Supreme; and in God let the believers place their trust!" 51 Say, "What do you wait for to happen to us, except one of the two good things, death in Allah's way or victory? And for you, we look forward to Allah afflicting you with a punishment from Himself or by our hands; so wait - we too await with you." 52 Say, "Spend willingly or unwillingly; never will it be accepted from you. Indeed, you have been a defiantly disobedient people." 53 What prevents their offerings from being accepted is their disbelief in God and His Messenger, their lack of interest in prayer and spending for the cause of God reluctantly. 54 So let not their riches nor their children please thee (O Muhammad). Allah thereby intendeth but to punish them in the life of the world and that their souls shall pass away while they are disbelievers. 55 They swear by God that they are believers like you; but they are not. They are afraid [to appear in their true colours]: 56 Had they but found a refuge, or caverns, or a place to enter, they surely had resorted thither swift as runaways. 57 And among them are men who slander thee in the matter of (the distribution of) the alms: if they are given part thereof, they are pleased, but if not, behold! they are indignant! 58 Would that they were content with what Allah and His Messenger gave them, and were to say: "Allah suffices for us, and Allah will give us out of His bounty and so will His Messenger. It is to Allah alone that we turn with hope." 59