SECTION: 16
O believers! If you yield to the unbelievers they will drag you back to unbelief and you will become the losers.[149] The fact is that Allah is your Protector and He is the best of all helpers.[150] Soon We shall cast terror into the hearts of the unbelievers for they commit shirk with Allah, for whom He has revealed no authority. The hellfire shall be their home; and evil is the home of the wrongdoers.[151]

3:[149-151]

Allah did indeed fulfill His promise to you when, with His leave, you defeated them until you flinched and fell into dispute about the order and disobeyed the Prophet, after Allah had brought within your sight the booty which you loved. Among you there were some who desired the gain of this world and some who desired the gain of the Hereafter. He allowed you to be defeated in order to test you, but now He has forgiven you, for Allah is gracious to the believers.[152] Remember how you fled in panic and did not even look back at one another while the Rasool, at your rear, was calling out to you! Consequently, Allah inflicted upon you one sorrow after another to teach you a lesson; not to grieve for what you lose nor at any misfortune you may encounter. Allah is well aware of all that you do.[153]

3:[152-153]

Then, after this grief, He bestowed peace on some of you - a slumber which overcame them - while the others were stirred to anxiety by their own fancies, holding unjust and wrong suspicions about Allah, the suspicions of ignorance. Now they ask: “Have we any say in the matter?” Tell them: “All matters are in the hands of Allah." They hide in their minds what they dare not reveal to you. They mean to say: “If we had any say in the matter, none of us would have been killed here." Say to them: “Even if you had remained in your homes, those of you who were destined to be killed would nevertheless have been killed; but it was Allah’s will to test your faith and purge what was in your hearts. Allah has knowledge of the secrets of your hearts."[154] As for those of you who turned their backs on the day when the two armies met, they failed in their duty because they were seduced by Shaităn on account of some of their shortcomings. But now Allah has pardoned them; for Allah is Forgiving, Forbearing.[155]

3:[154-155]

SECTION: 17
O believers! Do not be like the unbelievers who speak of those brethren of theirs who die during their travels on the earth or while engaged in fighting: “Had they but stayed with us they would not have died or been killed." Allah makes such thinking a cause of regret and anguish in their hearts. It is Allah who gives life and death. Allah is observant of all your actions.[156] If you should die or get killed in the cause of Allah, His forgiveness and mercy will be far better than all the riches you could gather.[157] Whether you die or get killed, all of you will be brought before Allah.[158]

3:[156-158]

O Muhammad, it is a great Mercy of Allah that you are very gentle with them; had you been rough or hard-hearted, they would have deserted you. Therefore pardon them and ask Allah’s forgiveness for them. Consult them in the conduct of affairs; and when you make a decision to do something, then put your trust in Allah (hold fast to your decision). Allah loves those who put their trust in Him.[159]

3:[159]

If Allah helps you, then there is none who can overcome you. If He forsakes you, then who else is there other than Him who can help you? Therefore, in Allah let the believers put their trust.[160] It is not conceivable that any Prophet would hold back from the spoils of war; for anyone who holds back shall bring along whatever he has been withholding on the Day of Resurrection; then every soul shall be paid back in full what it has earned and they shall not be dealt with unjustly.[161]

3:[160-161]