Page:Sacred Books of the East - Volume 6.djvu/190

64 our sins and our extravagance in our affairs ; and make firm our footing, and help us against the misbelieving folk !’ and God gave them the reward of this world, and good reward for the future too, for God doth love the kind.

O ye who believe ! if ye obey those who mis- believe, they will turn you back upon your heels, and ye will retreat the losers. Nay, God is your Lord, He is the best of helpers. We will throw dread into the hearts of those who misbelieve, for that they associate that with God which He has sent down no power for ; but their resort is fire, and evil is the resort of the unjust.

God has truly kept His promise, when ye knocked them senseless by His permission, until ye showed cowardice, and wrangled, and rebelled, after he had shown you what ye loved. Amongst you are those who love this world, and amongst you are those who love the next. Then He turned you away from them to try you ; but He has pardoned you, for God is Lord of grace unto believers, — when ye went up and looked not round upon any one, although the Apostle was calling you from your rear. Therefore did God reward you with trouble on trouble that ye should not grieve after what ye had missed, nor for what befel you, for God is well aware of what ye do. Then He sent down upon you after trouble safety, — drowsiness creeping over one company of you, and one company of you getting anxious about themselves, suspecting about God other than the truth, with the suspicion of the ignorant, and saying, ‘ Have we any chance in