Mark well. O Muhammad what the stay-at-home desert Arabs will say to you: " We were unable to be part of your expedition and join battle (if there is any) on account of our constant attention to our commercial transactions and to our families, and we seek your help in invoking Allah': forgiveness on our behalf". They speak with their tongues in their cheeks and what they utter and what their hearts forge do not together accord. Say) to them: " who is he who has power to restrain Allah from a contemplated action and prevent the coming-on of a calamity or of prosperity? But indeed Allah has been well acquainted with what you were doing".