O you who believe, do not be like those who deny, and say of their brethren (who died) travelling in the land or fighting: "Had they stayed with us here they would not have died or been killed." This happened so that God may fill their hearts with grief. God is the giver of life and death and sees all that you do. 156 And if indeed you are slain or die in God's cause, then surely forgiveness from God and His grace are better than all that one could amass [in this world]: 157 And whether you die or are killed, unto Allah you will be gathered. 158 It was by the mercy of Allah that thou wast lenient with them (O Muhammad), for if thou hadst been stern and fierce of heart they would have dispersed from round about thee. So pardon them and ask forgiveness for them and consult with them upon the conduct of affairs. And when thou art resolved, then put thy trust in Allah. Lo! Allah loveth those who put their trust (in Him). 159 If God is there to help you none will overcome you; and if He forsake you, who will help you other than Him? So only in God should the faithful place their trust. 160 It is not for any Prophet to hold back anything; he who hides anything away shall bring it forth on the Day of Resurrection, when every human being shall be repaid in full for whatever he has done, and none shall be wronged. 161 Is a man who has followed the pleasure of God the same as he who has incurred His wrath, whose abode is surely Hell, a dreadful place? 162 They are in different ranks before Allah; and Allah sees their deeds. 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 was it so, when a disaster smote you, though ye had smitten (them with a disaster) twice (as great), that ye said: How is this? Say (unto them, O Muhammad): It is from yourselves. Lo! Allah is Able to do all things. 165 and all that befell you on the day when the two hosts met in battle happened by God's leave, so that He might mark out the [true] 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 (They are) the ones that say, (of their brethren slain), while they themselves sit (at ease): "If only they had listened to us they would not have been slain." Say: "Avert death from your own selves, if ye speak the truth." 168 And never think of those who have been killed in the cause of Allah as dead. Rather, they are alive with their Lord, receiving provision, 169 Rejoicing in what Allah has given them out of His grace and they rejoice for the sake of those who, (being left) behind them, have not yet joined them, that they shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve. 170 ۞ they rejoice in the glad tiding of God's blessings and bounty, and [in the promise] that God will not fail to requite the believers 171