History of the World/History of the World (Bureau Development, Inc.)(1992).BIN/dp/0247/02471.txt

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$Title{Koran (Qu'ran)
[XCV.]}
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$Author{Allah}
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Title:       Koran (Qu'ran)
Author:      Allah

[XCV.]

Sura VIII. - The Spoils ^1

[Footnote 1: On this Sura, which relates mainly to the battle of Bedr, see
Weil's M. der Prophet, p. 268.]

Medina. - 76 Verses

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful

     They 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.

     Believers 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;

     Who observe the prayers, and give alms out of that with which we have
supplied them;

     These are the believers: their due grade awaiteth them in the presence
of their Lord, and forgiveness, and a generous provision.

     Remember how thy Lord caused thee to go forth from thy home ^2 on a
mission of truth, and part of the believers were quite averse to it:

[Footnote 2: At Medina.]

     They disputed with thee about the truth ^3 which had been made so clear,
as if they were being led forth to death, and saw it before them:

[Footnote 3: The necessity for the combat and its probable result.]

     And remember when God promised you that one of the two troops ^4 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 of the infidels;

[Footnote 4: Muhammad had conceived the design of attacking an unarmed
caravan belonging to the Koreisch on its way from Syria to Mecca.  Abu
Sofian, who had charge of it, sent to Mecca for succour, whence a body of
nearly 1000 armed men at once set out to his assistance.  Some of the Muslims
were  anxious to attack the caravan: others, notwithstanding the disparity of
numbers, proposed to throw themselves upon the succours.]

     That he might prove his truth to be the truth, and bring to nought that
which is nought, ^1 though the impious were averse to it:

[Footnote 1: Idolatry.]

     When ye sought succour of your Lord, and he answered you, "I will verily
aid you with a thousand ^2 angels, rank on rank:"

[Footnote 2: In Sura [xcvii.] iii. the angels are said to be 3000.]

     And 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.

     Recollect 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:

     When 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.

     This, because they have opposed God and his apostle: And whoso shall
oppose God and his apostle. . . .  Verily, God will be severe in punishment.

     "This for you!  Taste it then! and for the infidels is the torture of
the fire!"

     O ye who believe! when ye meet the marshalled hosts of the infidels,
turn not your backs to them:

     Whoso 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: He shall
be his abode and wretched the journey thither!

     So it was not ye who slew them, but God slew them; and those shafts were
God's, not thine! ^3  He would make trial of the faithful by a gracious trial
from Himself: Verily, God Heareth, Knoweth.

[Footnote 3: Lit. thou didst not cast when thou didst cast, but God cast.
This is explained of the miracle of the gravelstones and sand cast by God
into the eyes of the Meccans at Bedr.]

     This befel, that God might also bring to nought the craft of the
infidels.

     O Meccans! if ye desired a decision, now hath the decision come to
you. ^4  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.

[Footnote 4: That is, by our victory over you.]

     O ye faithful! obey God and his apostle, and turn not away from Him, now
that ye hear the truth;

     And be not like those who say "We hear," when they hear not;

     For the vilest beasts in God's sight, are the deaf, the dumb, who
understand not.

     Had 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.

     O 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.

     And 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.

     And remember when ye were few, and reputed weak in the land: ^1 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.

[Footnote 1: Muhammad specially addresses the Mohadjers in this verse, i.e.
those who had fled with him to Medina.]

     O ye who believe! deal not falsely with God and his apostle; and be not
false in your engagements, with your own knowledge:

     And know that your wealth and your children are a temptation; and that
God! with Him is a glorious recompense.

     O 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!

     And 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!

     And 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."

     And 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."

     But God chose not to chastise them while thou wast with them, nor would
God chastise them when they sued for pardon.

     But 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.

     And 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."

     The infidels spend their riches ^1 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.

[Footnote 1: Twelve of the Koreisch had given camels and a large sum of money
in aid of the Meccan succours.]

     And the infidels shall be gathered together into Hell,

     That 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.

     Say 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 ^2 the doom of the ancients!

[Footnote 2: Lit. hath preceded.]

     Fight 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:

     But if they turn their back, know ye that God is your protector:
Excellent protector! excellent helper!

     And know ye, that when ye have taken any booty, a fifth ^3 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 ^4, the day of the meeting
of the Hosts.  Over all things is God potent.

[Footnote 3: Before Islam it had been the custom among the Arabians to assign
a fourth part of the booty to the leader of an expedition.  See Freyt. Einl.
p. 266.]

[Footnote 4: That is, on the day of the battle of Bedr.  See Sura xxi. 49, p.
154.]

     When 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:

     That he who should perish might perish with a clear token ^5 before him,
and that he who liveth might live with it.  And verily, God Heareth,
Knoweth.

[Footnote 5: The mission of Gabriel to Muhammad with the promise of victory.]

     Remember 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 -

     And 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. ^1  To God do all things return.

[Footnote 1: Compare the different account in Sura [xcvii.] iii. 11.  The
commentators, however, get over the discrepancy by explaining the apparent
diminution of the Muslims at the commencement only of the battle, which had
the effect of drawing on the enemy in self-confidence.]

     Believers! when ye confront a troop, stand firm and make frequent
mention of the name of God, that it may fare well with you:

     And 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.

     And 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.

     When 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: ^2 ay, I fear God; for God is severe in
punishing."

[Footnote 2: The angels fighting for the Muslims.]

     When the hypocrites and the diseased of heart said, "Their Religion hath
misled the Muslims: ^3 But whoso putteth his trust in God. . . .  Yes, verily
God is Mighty, Wise!

[Footnote 3: By inducing them to attack so greatly superior a force.]

     If 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:

     This, for what your hands have sent on before you:" - and God is not
unjust to his servants.

     Their 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.

     This, 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.

     Their 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.

     The worst beasts truly in the sight of God are the thankless who will
not believe;

     They with whom thou hast leagued, and who are ever breaking their
league, and who fear not God!

     If thou take them in war, then, by the example of their fate, scatter
those who shall follow them - that they may be warned:

     Or if thou fear treachery from any people, throw back their treaty to
them as thou fairly mayest, ^1 for God loveth not the treacherous.

[Footnote 1: Thus Beidh.  Or, more simply, render them the like.]

     And think not that the infidels shall escape Us!  They shall not weaken
God.

     Make 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.

     And if they lean to peace, lean thou also to it; and put thy trust in
God: for He is the Hearing, the Knowing.

     But 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.

     O prophet!  God, and such of the faithful as follow thee, will be
all-sufficient for thee.

     O 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.

     Now 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 ^1 by God's permission; for God is with those who are resolute to
endure.

[Footnote 1: Comp. Lev. xxvi. 8; Josh. xxiii. 10.]

     No 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.

     Had there not been a previous ordinance ^2 from God, a severe
chastisement had befallen you, for the ransom which ye took.

[Footnote 2: Authorising the ransom of captives.]

     Eat therefore of the spoils ye have taken what is lawful and good; and
fear God: God is Gracious, Merciful.

     O prophet! say to the captives who are in your hands, "If God shall know
good ^3 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."

[Footnote 3: That is, a disposition to become Muslims.]

     But if they seek to deal treacherously with you - they have already
dealt treacherously ^4 with God before!  Therefore hath He given you power
over them.  God is Knowing, Wise.

[Footnote 4: That is, on account of their infidelity.]

     Verily, 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.

     The infidels lend one another mutual help.  Unless ye do the same, there
will be discord in the land and great corruption.

     But 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.

     And 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 ^5
are the nearest of kin to each other.  This is in the Book of God.  Verily,
God knoweth all things.

[Footnote 5: See Weil.  Life of M. p. 84, n.]