The Bedouins who lagged behind will say to you: 'We were occupied with our possessions and families, so ask Allah to forgive us' But they say with their tongues what they do not mean in their hearts. Say: 'Who can help you against Allah if it is that He wills harm for you or desires benefit for you? Allah is Aware of what you do' 11 No. You thought that the Messenger and the believers would never return to their families; this prospect seemed pleasing to your hearts, and you conceived evil thoughts, and thus were doomed to perish. 12 And whoever does not accept faith in Allah and His Noble Messenger – We have indeed kept prepared a blazing fire for disbelievers. 13 And to Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. He forgives whom He wills and punishes whom He wills. And ever is Allah Forgiving and Merciful. 14 As soon as you [O believers] are about to set forth on a war that promises booty, those who stayed behind [aforetime] will surely say: "Allow us to go with you" - [thus showing that] they would like to alter the Word of God. Say: "By no means shall you go with us: God has declared aforetime [to whom all spoils shall belong]." Thereupon they will [surely] answer, "Nay, but you begrudge us [our share of booty]!" Nay, they can grasp but so little of the truth! 15 Say to the desert Arabs who stayed behind, "You shall be called against a mighty people; then shall you fight, unless they submit. Then if you prove obedient, God will grant you a good reward, but if You turn back as you did before, He will inflict on you a painful punishment -- 16 There is no blame for the blind, nor is there blame for the lame, nor is there blame for the sick (that they go not forth to war). And whoso obeyeth Allah and His messenger, He will make him enter Gardens underneath which rivers flow; and whoso turneth back, him will He punish with a painful doom. 17