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 [truly] believe in God and the Last Day do not ask thee for exemption from struggling with their possessions and their lives [in God's cause] - and God has full knowledge as to who is conscious of Him: 44 only those seek exemption who do not truly believe in God and the Last Day, and whose hearts have become a prey to doubt. Because they doubt, they waver. 45 ۞ If they had intended to go out (to fight) 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 with you, they would only have proved a source of evil for you, and would have run back and forth among you, seeking to sow discord among you: and among you there were some who would have willingly listened to them. God knows the evil-doers. 47 Even prior to this, they tried to cause trouble and to turn your affairs upside-down until the truth came and the cause of God triumphed against their desires. 48 And among them is he who says: "Grant me leave to stay behind, and do not expose me to temptation." Lo! They have already fallen into temptation. Surely Hell encompasses the unbelievers. 49 If good befalls you (O Muhammad SAW), it grieves them, but if a calamity overtakes you, they say: "We took our precaution beforehand," and they turn away rejoicing. 50 Tell them: "Nothing can befall us except what God decrees. Our protector is He, and in God should the faithful place their trust." 51 For us, you can anticipate nothing other than Paradise if we are killed or success if we triumph. However, what we can anticipate for you is either punishment by the hands of God or by ours. Wait and we, too, are waiting with you. 52 Say: 'Expend willingly, or unwillingly, it shall not be accepted from you; you are surely a people ungodly.' 53 And their spending was not stopped being accepted, except because they disbelieved in Allah and His Noble Messenger, and they come to prayer with heavy hearts, and they do not spend except unwillingly. 54 Do not marvel at their wealth and children. God intends to punish them through these in the world; and their souls will depart in a state of disbelief. 55 They swear by Allah that they are indeed of you; but they are not of you: yet 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 (O Prophet), some of them find fault with you in the distribution of alms. If they are given something of it they are pleased, and if they are given nothing they are angry. 58 If only they had been content with what Allah and His Messenger gave them, and had said, "Sufficient unto us is Allah! Allah and His Messenger will soon give us of His bounty: to Allah do we turn our hopes!" (that would have been the right course). 59