۞ Permission to fight is granted to those who are attacked, because they have been wronged, God indeed has the power to help them, 39 to those who were unjustly expelled from their homes only because they said, "God is our Lord." Had it not been for God's repelling some people through the might of the others, the monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques in which God is very often worshipped would have been utterly destroyed. God shall certainly help those who help Him. He is All-powerful and Majestic. 40 The people who, if We give them control in the land, would keep the prayer established and pay charity and enjoin virtue and forbid from evil; and for Allah only is the result of all works. 41 If they cry lies to thee, so too before them the people of Noah cried lies, and Ad and Thamood, 42 And the people of Abraham and Lot, 43 And the inhabitants of Madyan. And Moses was denied, so I prolonged enjoyment for the disbelievers; then I seized them, and how [terrible] was My reproach. 44 And how many a city did We destroy while it was committing wrong - so it is [now] fallen into ruin - and [how many] an abandoned well and [how many] a lofty palace. 45 Have they never journeyed through the land so that they have hearts to understand, or ears to hear with? It is not the eyes, but the hearts in the chests that are blind. 46 And they ask you to hasten on the torment! And Allah fails not His Promise. And verily, a day with your Lord is as a thousand years of what you reckon. 47 And how many a city did I give reins to, while it wronged itself, then took hold of it! and unto Me is the return. 48