O YOU who have attained to faith! If you pay heed to those who are bent on denying the truth, they will cause you to turn back on your heels, and you will be the losers. 149 But Allah is your Protector, and He is the best of helpers. 150 Into the hearts of those who are bent on denying the truth We shall cast dread in return for their ascribing divinity, side by side with God, to other beings - [something] for which He has never bestowed any warrant from on high; and their goal is the fire - and how evil that abode of evildoers! 151 AND, INDEED, God made good His promise unto you when, by His leave, you were about to destroy your foes - until the moment when you lost heart and acted contrary to the [Prophet's] command, and disobeyed after He had brought you within view of that [victory] for which you were longing. There were among you such as cared for this world [alone,] just as there were among you such as cared for the life to come: whereupon, in order that He might put you to a test, He prevented you from defeating your foes. But now He has effaced your sin: for God is limitless in His bounty unto the believers. 152 ۞ [Remember] when you [fled and] climbed [the mountain] without looking aside at anyone while the Messenger was calling you from behind. So Allah repaid you with distress upon distress so you would not grieve for that which had escaped you [of victory and spoils of war] or [for] that which had befallen you [of injury and death]. And Allah is [fully] Acquainted with what you do. 153 Then, after sorrow, He sent down upon you safety. Slumber overtook a party, while another party cared only for themselves, thinking of Allah thoughts that were not true, the guess of ignorance, saying: 'Have we any say in the affair' Say: 'The entire affair belongs to Allah' They conceal in themselves what they do not disclose to you. They say: 'If we had any say in the affair we should not have been killed here' Say: 'Had you stayed in your homes, those of you for whom slaying was written would have come out to their (death) beds so that Allah might try what was in your chests and that He will examine what is in your hearts' And Allah knows the innermost of the chests. 154 (As for) those of you who turned back on the day when the two armies met, only the Shaitan sought to cause them to make a slip on account of some deeds they had done, and certainly Allah has pardoned them; surely Allah is Forgiving, Forbearing. 155