۞ Sanction is given unto those who fight because they have been wronged; and Allah is indeed Able to give them victory; 39 they are those who have been driven out of their homes unjustly, only because they said, "Our Lord is God." If God did not repel the aggression of some people by means of others, cloisters and churches and synagogues and mosques, wherein the name of God is much invoked, would surely be destroyed. God will surely help him who helps His cause -- God is indeed powerful and mighty. 40 The people who, if We give them control in the land, would keep the prayer established and pay charity and enjoin virtue and forbid from evil; and for Allah only is the result of all works. 41 If they treat thy (mission) as false, so did the peoples before them (with their prophets),- the People of Noah, and 'Ad and Thamud; 42 Those of Abraham and Lut; 43 (And) the dwellers in Midian. And Moses was denied; but I indulged the disbelievers a long while, then I seized them, and how (terrible) was My abhorrence! 44 And how many a city did We destroy while it was committing wrong - so it is [now] fallen into ruin - and [how many] an abandoned well and [how many] a lofty palace. 45 So have they not travelled in the land, to have hearts with which to understand and ears to hear with? So it is not the eyes that are blind, but it is the hearts in the bosoms, that are blind. 46 And they ask you to hasten on the torment! And Allah fails not His Promise. And verily, a day with your Lord is as a thousand years of what you reckon. 47 How many towns did I respite at first though they were steeped in iniquity, and then I seized them! To Me are all destined to return. 48