Tell those who are bent on denying the truth that if they desist, their past shall be forgiven, but if they persist in sin, they have an example in the fate of those who went before. 38 And fight them on until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in Allah altogether and everywhere; but if they cease, verily Allah doth see all that 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 you take as war booty, a fifth of that belongs to Allah and His Noble Messenger, and to relatives, and orphans, and the needy, and the traveller – if you have accepted faith in Allah and what We sent down to Our bondman on the decisive day – the day when two armies had met; and Allah is Able to do all things. 41 You were on the nearer side of the valley, and they were on the farther side, and the caravan was below you. Had you wished to set a time by mutual agreement, you would certainly have disagreed on the timing. However, the encounter took place, so that God might settle a matter which had already been ordained, so that he who was to perish might perish after clear evidence of the truth, and he who was to live might live in clear evidence of the truth. Surely, God is all hearing and all-knowing. 42 When O dear Prophet, Allah used to show the disbelievers in your dream as only a few*; and O Muslims, had He shown them to you as many, you would have certainly lost courage and disputed over the affair, but Allah rescued (you); indeed He knows what lies within the hearts. (* They numbered more but their actual strength was equal to only a few.) 43 appear And (remember) when you met (the army of the disbelievers on the Day of the battle of Badr), He showed them to you as few in your eyes and He made you as few in their eyes, so that Allah might accomplish a matter already ordained (in His Knowledge), and to Allah return all matters (for decision). 44