The Qur'an Sura VIII — THE SPOILS
1THEY will question thee about THE SPOILS. SAY: The spoils are God's and the apostle's. Therefore, fear God, and settle this among yourselves; and obey God and his apostle, if you are believers.
2Believers are they only whose hearts thrill with fear when God is named, and whose faith increaseth at each recital of his signs, and who put their trust in their Lord;
3Who observe the prayers, and give alms out of that with which we have supplied them;
4These are the believers: their due grade awaiteth them in the presence of their Lord, and forgiveness, and a generous provision.
5Remember how thy Lord caused thee to go forth from thy home on a mission of truth, and part of the believers were quite averse to it:
6They disputed with thee about the truth which had been made so clear, as if they were being led forth to death, and saw it before them:
7And remember when God promised you that one of the two troops should fall to you, and ye desired that they who had no arms should fall to you: but God purposed to prove true the truth of his words, and to cut off the uttermost part ofthe infidels;
8That he might prove his truth to be the truth, and bring to nought that which is nought, though the impious were averse to it:
9When ye sought succour of your Lord, and he answered you, "I will verily aid you with a thousand angels, rank on rank:"
10And God made this promise as pure good tidings, and to assure your hearts by it: for succour cometh from God alone! Verily God is Mighty, Wise.
11Recollect when sleep, a sign of security from Him, fell upon you, and he sent down upon you water from Heaven that he might thereby cleanse you, and cause the pollution of Satan to pass from you, and that he might gird up your hearts, and stablish your feet by it:
12When thy Lord spake unto the angels, "I will be with you: therefore stablish ye the faithful. I will cast a dread into the hearts of the infidels." Strike off their heads then, and strike off from them every finger-tip.
13This, because they have opposed God and his apostle: And whoso shall oppose God and his apostle. . . . Verily, God will be severe in punishment.
14"This for you! Taste it then! and for the infidels is the torture of the fire!"
15O ye who believe! when ye meet the marshalled hosts of the infidels, turn not your backs to them:
16Whoso shall turn his back to them on that day, unless he turn aside to fight, or to rally to some other troop, shall incur wrath from God: Hell shall be his abode and wretched the journey thither!
17So it was not ye who slew them, but God slew them; and those shafts were God's, not thine! He would make trial of the faithful by a gracious trial from Himself: Verily, God Heareth, Knoweth.
18This befel, that God might also bring to nought the craft of the infidels.
19O Meccans! if ye desired a decision, now hath the decision come to you. It will be better for you if ye give over the struggle. If ye return to it, we will return; and your forces, though they be many, shall never avail you aught, for God is with the faithful.
20O ye faithful! obey God and his apostle, and turn not away from Him, now that ye hear the truth;
21And be not like those who say "We hear," when they hear not;
22For the vilest beasts in God's sight, are the deaf, the dumb, who understand not.
23Had God known any good in them, he would certainly have made them hear. But even if He had made them hear, they would certainly have turned back and withdrawn afar.
24O ye faithful! make answer to the appeal of God and his apostle when he calleth you to that which giveth you life. Know that God cometh in between a man and his own heart, and that to him shall ye be gathered.
25And be afraid of temptation: the evil doers among you will not be the only ones on whom it will light: And know ye that God is severe in punishment.
26And remember when ye were few, and reputed weak in the land: ye feared lest men should pluck you away; then was it that He took you in and strengthened you with his help, and supplied you with good things, that haply ye might give thanks.
27O ye who believe! deal not falsely with God and his apostle; and be not false in your engagements, with your own knowledge:
28And know that your wealth and your children are a temptation; and that God! with Him is a glorious recompense.
29O ye who believe! if ye fear God he will make good your deliverance, and will put away your sins from you, and will forgive you. God is of great bounteousness!
30And call to mind when the unbelievers plotted against thee, to detain thee prisoner, or to kill thee, or to banish thee: They plotted–but God plotted: and of plotters is God the best!
31And oft as our signs were rehearsed to them, they said, "Now have we heard: if we pleased we could certainly utter its like! Yes, it is mere tales of the ancients."
32And when they said, "God! if this be the very truth from before thee, rain down stones upon us from Heaven, or lay on us some grievous chastisement."
33But God chose not to chastise them while thou wast with them, nor would God chastise them when they sued for pardon.
34But because they debarred the faithful from the holy temple, albeit they are not its guardians, nothing is there on their part why God should not chastise them. The Godfearing only are its guardians; but most of them know it not.
35And their prayer at the house of God is no other than whistling through the fingers and clapping of the hands–"Taste then the torment, for that ye have been unbelievers."
36The infidels spend their riches with intent to turn men aside from the way of God: spend it they shall; then shall sighing be upon them, and then shall they be overcome.
37And the infidels shall be gathered together into Hell,
38That God may separate the bad from the good, and put the bad one upon the other, and heap them all up and put them into Hell! These are they who shall be lost.
39SAY to the infidels: If they desist from their unbelief, what is now past shall be forgiven them; but if they return to it, they have already before them the doom of the ancients!
40Fight then against them till strife be at an end, and the religion be all of it God's. If they desist, verily God beholdeth what they do:
41But if they turn their back, know ye that God is your protector: Excellent protector! excellent helper!
42And know ye, that when ye have taken any booty, a fifth part belongeth to God and to the Apostle, and to the near of kin, and to orphans, and to the poor, and to the wayfarer, if ye believe in God, and in that which we have sent down to our servant on the day of the victory, the day of the meeting of the Hosts. Over all things is God potent.
43When ye were encamped on the near side of the valley, and they were on the further side, and the caravan was below you, if ye had made an engagement to attack ye would have failed the engagement; but ye were led into action notwithstanding, that God might accomplish the thing destined to be done:
44That he who should perish might perish with a clear token before him, and that he who liveth might live with it. And verily, God Heareth, Knoweth.
45Remember when God shewed them to thee in thy dream, as few: Had he shown them numerous, ye would certainly have become fainthearted, and would certainly have disputed about the matter–But from this God kept you–He knoweth the very secrets of the breast–
46And when, on your meeting, he made them to appear to your eyes as few, and diminished you in their eyes, that God might carry out the thing that was to be done. To God do all things return.
47Believers! when ye confront a troop, stand firm and make frequent mention of the name of God, that it may fare well with you:
48And obey God and his Apostle; and dispute not, lest ye become fainthearted and your success go from you; but endure with steadfastness, for God is with the steadfastly enduring.
49And be not like those Meccans who came out of their houses insolently and to be seen of men, and who turn others from the way of God: God is round about their actions.
50When Satan prepared their works for them, and said, "No man shall conquer you this day; and verily I will be near to help you:" But when the two armies came in sight, he turned on his heel and said, "Ay, I am clear of you: ay, I see what ye see not: ay, I fear God; for God is severe in punishing."
51When the hypocrites and the diseased of heart said, "Their Religion hath misled the Muslims: But whoso putteth his trust in God. , , , Yes, verily God is Mighty, Wise!
52If thou didst see, when the angels cause the infidels to die! They smite their faces and their backs, and–"Taste ye the torture of the burning:
53This, for what your hands have sent on before you:"–and God is not unjust to his servants.
54Their state is like that of the people of Pharaoh and of those before them who believed not in the signs of God: therefore God seized upon them in their sin! God is Mighty, severe in punishing.
55This, because God changeth not the favour with which he favoureth a people, so long as they change not what is in their hearts; and for that God Heareth, Knoweth.
56Their state is like that of the people of Pharaoh, and of those before them who treated their Lord's signs as lies. We therefore destroyed them in their sins, and we drowned the people of Pharaoh; for they were all doers of wrong.
57The worst beasts truly in the sight of God are the thankless who will not believe;
58They with whom thou hast leagued, and who are ever breaking their league, and who fear not God!
59If thou take them in war, then, by the example of their fate, scatter those who shall follow them–that they may be warned:
60Or if thou fear treachery from any people, throw back their treaty to them as thou fairly mayest, for God loveth not the treacherous.
61And think not that the infidels shall escape Us! They shall not weaken God.
62Make ready then against them what force ye can, and strong squadrons whereby ye may strike terror into the enemy of God and your enemy, and into others beside them whom ye know not, but whom God knoweth. All that you shall expend for the cause of God shall be repaid you; and ye shall not be wronged.
63And if they lean to peace, lean thou also to it; and put thy trust in God: for He is the Hearing, the Knowing.
64But if they seek to betray thee, God will be all-sufficient for thee. He it is who hath strengthened thee with His help, and with the faithful, and hath made their hearts one. Hadst thou spent all the riches of the earth, thou couldst not have united their hearts; but God hath united them, for He is Mighty, Wise.
65O prophet! God, and such of the faithful as follow thee, will be all- sufficient for thee.
66O prophet! stir up the faithful to the fight. Twenty of you who stand firm shall vanquish two hundred: and if there be a hundred of you they shall vanquish a thousand of the infidels, for they are a people devoid of understanding.
67Now hath God made your work easy, for he knoweth how weak ye are. If there be an hundred of you who endure resolutely, they shall vanquish two hundred; and if there be a thousand of you, they shall vanquish two thousand by God's permission; for God is with those who are resolute to endure.
68No prophet hath been enabled to take captives until he had made great slaughter in the earth. Ye desire the passing fruitions of this world, but God desireth the next life for you. And God is Mighty, Wise.
69Had there not been a previous ordinance from God, a severe chastisement had befallen you, for the ransom which ye took.
70Eat therefore of the spoils ye have taken what is lawful and good; and fear God: God is Gracious, Merciful.
71O prophet! say to the captives who are in your hands, "If God shall know good to be in your hearts, He will give you good beyond all that hath been taken from you, and will forgive you: for God is Forgiving, Merciful."
72But if they seek to deal treacherously with you–they have already dealt treacherously with God before! Therefore hath He given you power over them. God is Knowing, Wise.
73Verily, they who have believed and fled their homes and spent their substance for the cause of God, and they who have taken in the prophet and been helpful to him, shall be near of kin the one to the other. And they who have believed, but have not fled their homes, shall have no rights of kindred with you at all, until they too fly their country. Yet if they seek aid from you on account of the faith, your part it is to give them aid, except against a people between whom and yourselves there shall be a treaty. And God beholdeth your actions.
74The infidels lend one another mutual help. Unless ye do the same, there will be discord in the land and great corruption.
75But as for those who have believed and fled their country, and fought on the path of God, and given the prophet an asylum, and been helpful to him, these are the faithful; Mercy is their due and a noble provision.
76And they who have believed and fled their country since, and have fought at your side, these also are of you. Those who are united by ties of blood are the nearest of kin to each other. This is in the Book of God. Verily, God knoweth all things.
Suras are in the standard order; verse divisions follow Rodwell's 1861 edition and do not always match the standard ayah numbering.