O People who believe! Remember the favour of Allah upon you when some armies came against you, so We sent against them a windstorm and the armies you could not see; and Allah sees your deeds. 9 Eyes became dull and hearts almost reached the throat when they attacked you from above and below and you started to think of God with suspicion. 10 That proved be the testing ground for the Muslims, and they were subjected to a severe shake. 11 When the hypocrites and those who were filled with doubt, said: "The promise of God and His Apostle was nothing but deceit." 12 And when a party of them said: O folk of Yathrib! There is no stand (possible) for you, therefor turn back. And certain of them (even) sought permission of the Prophet, saying: Our homes lie open (to the enemy). And they lay not open. They but wished to flee. 13 Now if their town had been stormed, and they had been asked [by the enemy] to commit apostasy, [the hypocrites] would have done so without much delay 14 And indeed they had already made a covenant with Allah not to turn their backs, and a covenant with Allah must be answered for. 15 Say: Flight shall not do you any good if you fly from death or slaughter, and in that case you will not be allowed to enjoy yourselves but a little. 16 ۞ Say: Who is it that can withhold you from Allah if He intends to do you evil, rather He intends to show you mercy? And they will not find for themselves besides Allah any guardian or a helper. 17 Verily Allah knows those among you who keep back (men) and those who say to their brethren, "Come along to us", but come not to the fight except for just a little while. 18 They are niggardly in spending for you. When fear comes, you can see them looking at you, their eyes rolling about like to faint because of the agony of death. When their fear subsides, they start to bite you with their sharp tongues. They are miserly in spending for a virtuous cause and have no faith. God has turned their deeds devoid of all virtue. This was not at all difficult for God. 19 They deem that the confederates have not yet departed; and if the confederates should come, they would fain to be in the desert with the wandering Arabs inquiring for tidings of you. And if they happen to be amongst you, they would fight but little. 20