۞ God was pleased with the believers when they swore allegiance to you under the tree, for He knew well what was in their hearts, and sent down tranquility on them, and rewarded them with an expeditious victory 18 and [of] many war-gains which they would achieve: for God is indeed almighty, wise. 19 [O you who believe!] God has promised you many war-gains which you shall yet achieve; and He has vouchsafed you these [worldly gains] well in advance, and has stayed from you the hands of [hostile] people, so that this [your inner strength] may become a symbol to the believers [who will come after you,] and that He may guide you all on a straight way. 20 And other (benefits) which you have not yet obtained, are within the compass of God, for God has power over everything. 21 If the unbelievers had fought you, they would have turned their backs, and then found neither protector nor helper; 22 the wont of God, as in the past before, and thou shalt never find any changing the wont of God. 23 And He it is who, in the valley of Mecca, stayed their hands from you, and your hands from them, after He had enabled you to vanquish them; and God saw indeed what you were doing. 24 It was the disbelievers who kept you from the Sacred Mosque and prevented your sacrificial offering from reaching its proper place. God would not have kept you from fighting the disbelievers, had there not been believing men and women (among them) whom you did not know and whom you might have unknowingly harmed. God did this because He grants mercy to whomever He wants. Had they been distinguishable from the believers, We would certainly have punished them with a painful torment. 25 While those who deny the truth made it a prestige issue [in their hearts], the bigotry of the days of ignorance, God sent His tranquillity down on to His Messenger and believers and firmly established in them the principle of righteousness, for they were indeed better entitled to it and more worthy of it. God has full knowledge of all things. 26