۞ Permission [to fight] has been given to those who are being fought, because they were wronged. And indeed, Allah is competent to give them victory. 39 Those who have been driven forth from their abodes without justice, except because they say: our Lord is Allah. And were it not for Allah's repelling of some by means of others, cloisters and churches, synogogues and mosques wherein the name of Allah is mentioned much, would have been pulled down. Surely Allah shall succour whosoever succoureth Him; verily Allah is strong, Mighty. 40 [They are] those who, if We established them in the land, would say their prayers regularly and pay the zakat and enjoin good and forbid evil. The final outcome of all affairs rests with God. 41 And if they deny you, [O Muhammad] - so, before them, did the people of Noah and 'Aad and Thamud deny [their prophets], 42 and the people of Abraham, Lot, 43 and so did the dwellers of Midian, and Moses too was branded a liar. Initially I granted respite to the unbelievers for a while and then seized them. How dreadful was My punishment! 44 And how many a township have We destroyed because it had been immersed in evildoing - and now they [all] lie deserted, with their roofs caved in! And how many a well lies abandoned, and how many a castle that [once] stood high! 45 Have they not journeyed in the land that their hearts might understand and their ears might listen? For indeed it is not the eyes that are blinded; it is rather the hearts in the breasts that are rendered blind. 46 And they will bid thee hasten on the Doom, and Allah faileth not His promise, but lo! a Day with Allah is as a thousand years of what ye 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