The Spoils of War
8. Al-Anfāl
الأنفال
al-Anfāl (The Spoils)
ٱلْأَنْفَال
8:42
إِذْ
أَنتُم
بِالْعُدْوَةِ
الدُّنْيَا
وَهُم
بِالْعُدْوَةِ
الْقُصْوَى
وَالرَّكْبُ
أَسْفَلَ
مِنكُمْ
وَلَوْ
تَوَاعَدتُّمْ
لَاخْتَلَفْتُمْ
فِي
الْمِيعَادِ
وَلَكِن
لِّيَقْضِيَ
اللَّهُ
أَمْرًا
كَانَ
مَفْعُولًا
لِّيَهْلِكَ
مَنْ
هَلَكَ
عَن
بَيِّنَةٍ
وَيَحْيَى
مَنْ
حَيَّ
عَن
بَيِّنَةٍ
وَإِنَّ
اللَّهَ
لَسَمِيعٌ
عَلِيمٌ
ʾidh ʾantum bi-l-ʿudwati d-dunyā wa-hum bi-l-ʿudwati l-quṣwā wa-r-rakbu ʾasfala minkum wa-law tawāʿadtum la-khtalaftum fī l-mīʿādi wa-lākin li-yaqḍiya llāhu ʾamran kāna mafʿūlan li-yahlika man halaka ʿan bayyinatin wa-yaḥyā man ḥayya ʿan bayyinatin wa-ʾinna llāha la-samīʿun ʿalīmun
Recall when your army was positioned at the less defensible brink of the valley, (the pagans') army had the more defensible higher side of the valley and the caravan was led (out of your reach) below. This situation did not take place according to your previous plans, otherwise, everything would have been different. (It was God's plan) to place you in a vulnerable position, exposed to the enemy and it was His plan to lead the caravan out of your reach) so that His decree that you would be granted a victory by a miracle would become a doubtless fact and so that those who were to be destroyed would face destruction with a clear knowledge of the Truth and those who were to survive would also survive with a clear knowledge of the Truth. God is All-hearing and All-knowing.
