# Sura   8 - The Spoils

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-18 — 1 clipping.*

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> SURA VIII - THE SPOILS (8)          [MEDINA - 76 VERSES]       (XCV - 375)    
>  
>        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 on a mission
> of truth, and part of the believers were quite averse to it:
>  
>        They 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:
>  
>        And 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 tree the truth of his words, and to cut off the uttermost
> part of the infidels;
>  
>        That he might prove his truth to be the truth, and bring nought that
> which is nought, though the impious were averse to it:
>  
>        When ye sought succour of your Lord, and he answered you, "I will verily
> aid you with a thousand angels, rank on rank:"
>  
> 8:10   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 tortue 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:  Hell 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!  He would make trial of the faithful by a gracious trial from
> Himself:  Verily, God Heareth, Knoweth.
>  
>        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.
> 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.
>  
> 8:20   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:  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.
>  
>        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!
>  
> 8:30   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!  Ye, 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 with intent to turn men aside from the
> way of God:  spent it they shall; then shall sighing be upon them, and then
> shall they be overcome.
>  
>        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 the doom of the ancients!
>  
> 8:40   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 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.
>  
>        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 things destined to be done:
>  
>        That 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.
>  
>        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.  To God do all things return.
>  
>        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.
>  
> 8:50   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 now:  ay, I fear God; for God is severe in punishing."
>  
>        When 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!
>  
>        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:" - 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 fear not God!
>  
>        If thou take them in warn, then, by the example of their fate, scatter
> those who shall follow them - that they may be warned:
>  
> 8:60   Or if thou fear treachery from any people, throw back their treaty to
> them as thou fairly mayest, for God loveth not the treacherous.
>  
>        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 art.  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.
>  
>        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 from God, a severe chastisement
> had befallen you, for the ransom which ye took.
>  
> 8:70   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 hand, "If God shall know
> good to be in your hearts, He will give you good beyond all that hath been
> take4n from you, and will forgive you:  for God is Forgiving, Merciful."
>  
>        But 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.
>  
>        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 at 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 are
> the nearest of kin to each other.  This is in the Book of God.   Verily, God
> knoweth all things.
>
> — *Sura   8 - The Spoils*