۞ Permitted are those who are fought against, because they have been oppressed, and verily to succour them Allah is Potent. 39 [They are] those who have been evicted from their homes without right - only because they say, "Our Lord is Allah." And were it not that Allah checks the people, some by means of others, there would have been demolished monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques in which the name of Allah is much mentioned. And Allah will surely support those who support Him. Indeed, Allah is Powerful and Exalted in Might. 40 those who, if We established them in the land, will establish the prayers and pay the obligatory charity, order with honor and forbid dishonor, and to Allah is the end of all affairs. 41 If they have called you, (Muhammad), a liar, (remember that) the people of Noah, Ad, Thamud, 42 And the people of Abraham and the people of 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 travelled in the land so that they should have hearts with which to understand, or ears with which to hear? For surely it is not the eyes that are blind, but blind are the hearts which are in the breasts. 46 They ask you to hasten the punishment. Allah will not break His promise. Each day with your Lord is like a thousand years in your reckoning. 47 And how many a village have I respited in its evil doing! Then I seized it. To Me is the return. 48