O ye who believe! if ye obey those who disbelieve, they will make you turn back on your heels, and ye turn back as losers. 149 But Allah is your Protector, and He is the best of helpers. 150 We shall strike terror into the hearts of unbelievers for ascribing compeers to God for which He has sent down no sanction. Hell is their residence, the evil abode of the unjust. 151 And Allah had certainly fulfilled His promise to you when you were killing the enemy by His permission until [the time] when you lost courage and fell to disputing about the order [given by the Prophet] and disobeyed after He had shown you that which you love. Among you are some who desire this world, and among you are some who desire the Hereafter. Then he turned you back from them [defeated] that He might test you. And He has already forgiven you, and Allah is the possessor of bounty for the believers. 152 ۞ [Remember] when you [fled and] climbed [the mountain] without looking aside at anyone while the Messenger was calling you from behind. So Allah repaid you with distress upon distress so you would not grieve for that which had escaped you [of victory and spoils of war] or [for] that which had befallen you [of injury and death]. And Allah is [fully] Acquainted with what you do. 153 Then, after this woe, He sent down upon you a sense of security, an inner calm which enfolded some of you, whereas the others, who cared mainly for themselves, entertained wrong thoughts about God - thoughts of pagan ignorance - saying, "Did we, then, have any power of decision [in this matter]?" Say: "Verily, all power of decision does rest with God" - [but as for them,] they are trying to conceal within themselves that [weakness of faith] which they would not reveal unto thee, [O Prophet, by] saying, "If we had any power of decision, we would not have left so many dead behind." Say [unto them]: "Even if you had remained in your homes, those [of you] whose death had been ordained would indeed have gone forth to the places where they were destined to lie down." And [all this befell you] so that God might put to a test all that you harbour in your bosoms, and render your innermost hearts pure of all dross: for God is aware of what is in the hearts [of men]. 154 As for those of you who turned back on the day the two hosts met, it was the Satan who made them slip because of something they had earned; and of a surety Allah hath pardoned them. Verily, Allah is Forgiving, Forbearing. 155