O you who have believed, remember the favor of Allah upon you when armies came to [attack] you and We sent upon them a wind and armies [of angels] you did not see. And ever is Allah, of what you do, Seeing. 9 When the disbelievers came upon you from above you and from below you, and when the eyes became fixed in stare and the hearts came up to the throats, and you were imagining matters regarding Allah. 10 There were the believers sorely tried, and shaken with a mighty shock. 11 The hypocrites and people with sickness in their hearts said, "God and His Messenger have promised us nothing but delusions." 12 And when a party of them said, 'O people of Yathrib, there is no abiding here for you, therefore return!' And a part of them Were asking leave of the Prophet, saying, 'Our houses are exposed'; yet they were not exposed; they desired only to flee. 13 If the enemy had entered from all sides and they had been exhorted to treachery, they would have committed it, and would have hesitated thereupon but little. 14 Yet they had made covenant with God before that, that they would not turn their backs; and covenants with God shall be questioned of 15 Say: 'Flight will not avail you, if you flee from death or slaughter, you would enjoy (this world) only for a little (time)' 16 ۞ Say, "Who is there to shield you from God if He wishes to harm you? If God wishes to show you mercy, who can prevent Him." Besides God they shall find none to protect them, and none to bring them succour. 17 God knows exactly who among you hold the others back, who say to their brethren, "Come over to our side," and they seldom take part in the fighting. 18 They reduce the help towards you; so when a fearful time comes, you will observe them looking at you with eyes rolling like one enveloped by death; then when the time of fear is over, they begin slandering you with sharp tongues in their greed for the war booty; they have not accepted faith, therefore Allah has nullified their deeds; and this is easy for Allah. 19 They thought the confederate tribes would never withdraw. Indeed, if the confederates should come again, they would prefer to be in the desert, among the Bedouins. There they would ask news of you [from a distance]. But if they were with you, they would take very little part in the fighting. 20