128 Preface لَيسَ لَكَ مِنَ الأَمرِ شَيءٌ أَو يَتوبَ عَلَيهِم أَو يُعَذِّبَهُم فَإِنَّهُم ظالِمونَYusuf AliNot for thee, (but for God., is the decision: Whether He turn in mercy to them, or punish them; for they are indeed wrong-doers.1Uḥud is as much a signpost for Islam as Badr. For us in these latter days it carries an ever greater lesson. God’s help will come if we have faith, obedience, discipline, unity, and the spirit of acting in righteousness and justice. If we fail, His mercy is always open to us. But it is also open to our enemies, and those who seem to us His enemies. His Plan may be to bring sinners to repentance, and to teach us righteousness and wisdom through those who seem in our eyes to be rebellious or even defiant. There may be good in them that He sees and we do not- a humbling thought that must lead to our own self-examination and selfimprovement.