O you who have attained to faith! Be not like those who are bent on denying the truth and say of their brethren [who die] after having set out on a journey to faraway places or gone forth to war, "Had they but remained with us, they would not have died," or, "they would not have been slain" - for God will cause such thoughts to become a source of bitter regret in their hearts, since it is God who grants life and deals death. And God sees all that you do. 156 If you are killed or die in God's cause, then surely forgiveness from God and His grace are better than all that one could amass. 157 And if you die or are killed, before Allah you shall all be gathered. 158 It was then of the mercy of Allah that thou hast been gentle with them; and wert thou rough, hardhearted, they had surely dispersed from around thee. So pardon them thou, and ask thou forgiveness for them and take thou counsel with them in the affair, and when thou hast resolved, put thy trust in Allah. Verily Allah loveth the trustful. 159 If Allah supports you, no one can overcome you; and if He forsakes you, who is there who can then help you? And in Allah only should the Muslims trust. 160 It is not [attributable] to any prophet that he would act unfaithfully [in regard to war booty]. And whoever betrays, [taking unlawfully], will come with what he took on the Day of Resurrection. Then will every soul be [fully] compensated for what it earned, and they will not be wronged. 161 Is the man who follows the good pleasure of Allah Like the man who draws on himself the wrath of Allah, and whose abode is in Hell?- A woeful refuge! 162 They are in ranks with God; and God sees the things they do. 163 God granted a great favor to the believers by sending a Messenger from their own people to recite to them God's revelations, to purify them of moral defects, to teach them the Book, and to give them wisdom. Before this they had lived in manifest error. 164 AND DO YOU, now that a calamity has befallen you after you had inflicted twice as much [on your foes,] ask yourselves, "How has this come about?" Say: "It has come from your own selves." Verily, God has the power to will anything: 165 And what you suffered (of the disaster) on the day (of the battle of Uhud when) the two armies met, was by the leave of Allah, in order that He might test the believers. 166 and that He might also know the hypocrites when it was said of them, 'Come now, fight in the way of God, or repel!' They said, 'If only we knew how to fight, we would follow you.' They that day were nearer to unbelief than to belief, saying with their mouths that which never was in their hearts; and God knows very well the things they hide; 167 To those who sit at home and say of their brothers: "They would never have been killed had they listened to us, say: "Drive away death from your midst if what you say is true." 168 But do not think of those that have been slain in God's cause as dead. Nay, they are alive! With their Sustainer have they their sustenance, 169 Jubilant (are they) because of that which Allah hath bestowed upon them of His bounty, rejoicing for the sake of those who have not joined them but are left behind: That there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve. 170 ۞ joyful in blessing and bounty from God, and that God leaves not to waste the wage of the believers. 171