They are the ones who persisted in disbelief and hindered you from the Sacred Mosque, preventing the sacrificial animals from reaching their destination.1 ˹We would have let you march through Mecca,˺ had there not been believing men and women, unknown to you. You might have trampled them underfoot, incurring guilt for ˹what you did to˺ them unknowingly. That was so Allah may admit into His mercy whoever He wills.2 Had those ˹unknown˺ believers stood apart, We would have certainly inflicted a painful punishment on the disbelievers.