Believers, what is the matter with you that when you are asked to go forth in the cause of God, you cling slothfully to the land? Do you prefer the life of this world to the Hereafter? But little is the comfort of this life, compared to that of the Hereafter. 38 Unless ye go forth, He will punish you with a grievous penalty, and put others in your place; but Him ye would not harm in the least. For Allah hath power over all things. 39 If you do not help him, (Muhammad), God has already helped him. When the unbelievers expelled him and he was one of the two people in the cave telling his friend, "Do not worry; God is with us," then God gave him confidence and supported him with an army which you did not see and He defeated the cause of the disbelievers and made His own cause stand supreme. God is Majestic and All-wise. 40 Go forth to war, whether it be easy or difficult [for you,] and strive hard in God's cause with your possessions and your lives: this is for your own good - if you but knew it! 41 Had there been some wealth near at hand or a short journey, they would have certainly accompanied you, but the difficult path became very distant for them; and they will now swear by Allah that “Had we been able, we would have surely accompanied you”; they destroy their own souls; and Allah knows that undoubtedly, they are indeed liars. 42