Some Arabs of the desert who had an excuse came asking permission to stay behind; whilst those who belied Allah and His Messenger remained behind. A painful punishment shall fall on those of them that disbelieved. 90 People who are weak or sick and those who do not have the means to take part in the fighting are exempt from this duty if their intention remains sincere about God and His Messenger. Righteous people shall not be blamed. God is All-forgiving and All-merciful. 91 Nor (is there blame) on those who came to you to be provided with mounts, and when you said: "I can find no mounts for you," they turned back, while their eyes overflowing with tears of grief that they could not find anything to spend (for Jihad). 92 ۞ But there are grounds for reproach against those who seek leave to stay behind even though they are affluent. They are the ones who were content to be with the womenfolk who stay behind. Allah has set a seal on their hearts, leaving them bereft of understanding. 93 They will excuse themselves unto you when ye return to them. Say thou: excuse not yourselves, we shall by no means believe you: Allah hath already declared unto us some tidings of you, and Allah will behold your work and so will His apostle; and thereafter ye will be brought back unto Him who knoweth the hidden and the manifest, who will then declare unto you that which ye have been working. 94 When you will have returned to them, [O believers,] they will swear to you by God, [repeating their excuses,] with a view to your letting them be. Let them be, then: behold, they are loathsome, and hell is their goal in recompense for what they were wont to do. 95 They swear to you so that you might be satisfied with them. But if you should be satisfied with them - indeed, Allah is not satisfied with a defiantly disobedient people. 96 The dwellers of the desert are the hardest in infidelity and hypocrisy and likeliest not to know the ordinances of that which Allah hath sent down unto His apostle. And Allah is Knowing, Wise. 97 Some of the Bedouins take what they expend for a fine, and await the turns of fortune to go against you. Theirs shall be the evil turn; God is All-hearing, All-knowing. 98 And some villagers are those who believe in Allah and the Last Day, and consider the spending as the means of obtaining proximity to Allah and obtaining the prayers of the Noble Messenger; pay heed! Yes indeed it is the means of proximity for them; Allah will soon admit them into His mercy; indeed Allah is Oft Forgiving, Most Merciful. 99