O ye who believe! Be not like the Unbelievers, who say of their brethren, when they are travelling through the Earth or engaged in fighting: "If they had stayed with us, they would not have died, or been slain." This that Allah may make it a cause of sighs and regrets in their hearts. It is Allah that gives Life and Death, and Allah sees well all that ye do. 156 And if you are killed or die in the Way of Allah, forgiveness and mercy from Allah are far better than all that they amass (of worldly wealths, etc.). 157 What though ye be slain or die, when unto Allah ye are gathered? 158 Thus it is due to mercy from Allah that you deal with them gently, and had you been rough, hard hearted, they would certainly have dispersed from around you; pardon them therefore and ask pardon for them, and take counsel with them in the affair; so when you have decided, then place your trust in Allah; surely Allah loves those who trust. 159 If God succours you, none can ever overcome you; but if He should forsake you, who could succour you thereafter? In God, then, let the believers place their trust! 160 No prophet could (ever) be false to his trust. If any person is so false, He shall, on the Day of Judgment, restore what he misappropriated; then shall every soul receive its due,- whatever it earned,- and none shall be dealt with unjustly. 161 Is then he who follows the pleasure of Allah like him who has made himself deserving of displeasure from Allah, and his abode is hell; and it is an evil destination. 162 There are (varying) grades with Allah, and Allah sees what they do. 163 Allah did confer a great favour on the believers when He sent among them a messenger from among themselves, rehearsing unto them the Signs of Allah, sanctifying them, and instructing them in Scripture and Wisdom, while, before that, they had been in manifest error. 164 What! When a misfortune befalls you, after you had yourself inflicted twice as heavy losses, you say, "How has this come about?" Say, "It was your own fault." Truly, God has the power to will anything: 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 know the hypocrites' When it was said to them: 'Come, fight or repel in the way of Allah' They replied: 'If only we knew how to fight, we would follow you' On that day, they were nearer to disbelief than belief. They said with their mouths what was not in their hearts. And Allah knows what 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 do not ever assume that those who are slain in Allah's cause, are dead; in fact they are alive with their Lord, receiving sustenance. (Death does not mean extinction, it is the passing of the soul from this world to another. In case of virtuous believers, their bodies do not rot after death and they remain “alive”, in the manner Allah has ordained for them.) 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 ۞ 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