1. They will ask you, Muhammad, about booty. Say: ‘Booty belongs to Allah who will assign it wherever He wills and the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, who will divide it equally between them, as is related by al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak. So be fearful of Allah and put things right between you by loving one another and abandoning conflict. Obey Allah and His Messenger if you are truly believers.’

2. The believe r s who have complete faith are those whose hearts tremble with fear when Allah’s threat is mentioned, whose belief is increased by affirming their truth when His Signs are recited to them, and who put their trust in their Lord alone, fearing no one else…

3. …those who establish the prayer with all the duties which it entails, and give of what We have provided for them in obedience to Allah.

4. T h e y (the people of this description) are in truth the believe r s without any doubt. They have high ranks (degrees in the Garden) with their Lord and forgiveness and generous provision in the Garden.

5. Just as your Lord brought you out from your house with truth, even though a group of the believers disliked it – this phrase is adverbial describing how they went out and their state of disliking to do so. If they are brought out while disliking it, it is better for them. That is because Abu Sufyan brought a caravan from Syria and the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and his Companions went out to loot it. The Quraysh learned about that and Abu Jahl and fighters from Makka set out to defend him in a group. Abu Sufyan took the caravan by the coastal road and escaped. Abu Jahl was told to return, but he refused.

6. …arguing with you about the Truth – the obligation to fight –after it had been made clear, it appearing as though they we r e being driven to their death with open eyes in spite of their dislike for it.

7. Remember when Allah promised you that one of the two parties – either the caravan or the Makkan army – would be yours and you would have liked it to have been the unarmed one without force and weaponry – the caravan which had far fewer defenders – whereas Allah desired to verify the Truth by His words – His preordainment of the victory of Islam – and to cut off the last remnant of the unbelievers through His command to fight the army.

8. This was so that He might verify the Truth and nullify the false (unbelief) even though the evildoers (idolaters) hate that.

9. Remember when you called on your Lord for help – asking Him to rescue you by giving you assistance against them – and He responded to you: ‘I will reinforce you with a thousand angels riding rank after rank.’ The angels came line after line as promised and first there were three thousand and then five thousand, as recorded in Sura al ‘Imran.

10. Allah only did this – informed you of these angelic reinforcements – to give you good news and that so your hearts would be at rest. Victory comes from no one but Allah. Allah is Almighty, All-Wise.

11. And remember when He overcame you with sleep, making you feel secure from the fear you had been feeling, and sent you down water from heaven to purify you from minor and major impurities and remove the taint of Shaytan from you – and his whispering to you when he whispered, “If you were in the right, you would not be thirsty and in a state of impurity when the idolaters have access to water.” – and to fortify your hearts with certainty and steadfastness and make your feet firm, preventing them from slipping in the sand.

12. And when your Lord revealed to the angels who reinforced the Muslims, ‘I am with you with help and support so make those who believe firm through the help and good news you bring. I will cast terror (extreme fear) into the hearts of those who disbelieve, so strike their neck s (behead them) and strike all their finger joints, cutting off their fingers and toes!’ It happened that a man would go to strike at the neck of an unbeliever and his head would fall off before his sword was able to get there. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, threw a handful of pebbles and there was not a single unbeliever whose eyes were not directly affected by it and they were completely routed.

13. This punishment was visited on them because they were hostile to and fought against Allah and His Messenger. If anyone is hostile to Allah and His Messenger, Allah is severe in retribution to him.

14. That punishment is your reward in this world, so taste it. The unbelievers will also have the punishment of the Fire in the Next World.

15. You who believe! When you encounter those who disbelieve advancing in massed ranks because of their great number into battle, do not turn your backs on them.

16. Anyone who turns his back on them that day (a day of battle), unless he is withdrawing, as a ruse with the appearance of flight but really intending to rejoin the fight or withdrawing to join another group of Muslims in order to reinforce them, brings Allah’s anger down upon himself. His refuge is Hell. What an evil destination!

17. You did not kill them at Badr through your own strength: it was Allah who killed them by His helping you. And you did not throw, Muhammad, when you threw the pebbles into the eyes of the enemy because no handful of pebbles thrown by a human being would be able to reach the eyes of every soldier in a large army: it was Allah who threw by making that handful reach its target, causing the overthrow of the unbelievers: so He might test the believers with this excellent trial from Him (the gift of the booty). Allah is All-Hearing of what they say, All-Knowing of their states.

18. That is your reward. Allah always confounds the schemes of the unbelievers by making them ineffectual.

19. If it was a decisive victory you were looking for, unbelievers –when Abu Jahl said, “O Allah, destroy tomorrow the one of us who breaks ties of kinship more and brings us what we do not recognise!” – that victory has clearly been won – resulting in the destruction asked for by Abu Jahl, except that it was him and those with him who were killed rather than the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the believers. If you desist from unbelief and war, it will better for you; but if you return to fighting the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, We also will return by supporting him against you. Your troops will not help – be able to defend – you at all, however many they are. Allah is with the believers.

20. You who believe! Obey Allah and His Messenger. And do not turn away from Him by opposing His commands when you are able to hear the Qur’an and its admonitions.

21. Do not be like those who say, ‘We hear,’ when they do not hear – because if they really heard it would result in their sincere reflection and their being admonished. This refers to the hypocrites or the idolaters.

22. The worst of beasts in Allah’s sight are those who are deaf to the truth and dumb and so unable to give expression to it who have no intellect.

23. If Allah knew of any good in them – meaning openness to hearing the truth – He would have made them able to hear – enabling them to understand it. But even if He had made them able to hear – a mere hypothesis since He knew there was no good in them – they would still have turned away from the truth out of their obstinacy and denial.

24. You who believe! Respond to Allah and to the Messenger by obeying them when He calls you to what will bring you to life – meaning the dın of Islam since it is the means to eternal life! Know that Allah intervenes between a man and his heart – so that he cannot believe or disbelieve except by the will of Allah – and that you will be gathered to Him so that He may repay you for your actions.

25. Be fearful of trials which, if they happen to you, will not afflict solely those among you who do wrong – rather they will envelop. them and others than them, so you should keep clear of them by objecting to those objectionable things which will bring them about. Know that Allah is severe in retribution to those who oppose Him.

26. When you were few and oppressed in the land (in Makka), afraid that the people (the unbelievers) would snatch you away – suddenly seizing you – He gave you refuge in Madina and supported you with His help – the angels at Badr – and provided you with good things (booty) so that perhaps you would be thankful for His blessings.

27. You who believe! Do not betray Allah and His Messenger – this was revealed about Abu Lubaba Marwan ibn ‘Abdu’l-Mundhir. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, sent him to the Banu Qurayza to persuade them to agree to submit to the Prophet’s judgement. They consulted him but he indicated to them, because he had family and wealth among them, that they were going to be executed – and do not knowingly betray your trusts – referring to both the din and other things you have been entrusted with.

28. Know that your wealth and children are a trial – a potential obstacle to you in your progress to the Next World, so do not be tempted by concern for your property and children into acting treacherously on their account – and that there is an immense reward with Allah. This was revealed about Abu Lubaba’s repentance.

29. You who believe! If you are fearful of Allah by showing regret and in other ways He will give you discrimination – enabling, you to thereby avoid what you fear so that you will be saved – and erase your bad actions from you and forgive you your wrong actions. Allah’s favour is indeed immense.

30. Remember, Muhammad, when those who disbelieve were plotting against you – consulting one another in the Dar an-Nadwa in Makka about what to do about you – to bind and imprison you or kill you – acting all together as a single man – or expel you from Makka: they were plotting and Allah was plotting – to take care of your interests by revealing to you what they had plotted and commanding you to leave – but Allah is the Best of Plotters – having more knowledge than they have.

31. When Our Signs (the Qur’an) are recited to them, they say, ‘We have already heard all this. If we wanted, we could say the same thing. This (the Qur’an) is nothing but the myths (fabrications) of previous peoples.’ This was said by an-Nadr ibn al-Harith because he went to Hira to trade and purchased some books of the history of the Persians and recounted them to the people of Makka.

32. And they say, ‘O Allah, if this – which Muhammad has recited to us – is really the truth revealed from You, rain down stones on us out of heaven or send a painful punishment down on us for denying it.’ An-Nadr and others said this in mockery, pretending to have the necessary insight to be able to declare definitively that it was false.

33. Allah would not punish them in the way they were asking for while you were among them because when the punishment descends, it is all-inclusive, so a nation is only punished when their Prophet and the believers leave it. Allah would not punish them as long as they sought forgiveness – which the idolaters used to do when they said in their tawaf, “Your forgiveness! Your forgiveness!”. It is also said that this ayat refers to the oppressed believers among them, as Allah says: “and had those who disbelieved among them been clearly distinguishable, We would have punished them with a painful punishment.” (48:25)

34. But why should Allah not punish them with the sword now that you and the oppressed Muslims have left – it is said that this ayat abrogates the previous one, for Allah did punish them at Badr and elsewhere – when they bar access to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and the Muslims, preventing them from doing tawaf at al-Masjid al-Haram? They are not its guardians. Only people who are god-fearing can be its guardians. But most of them do not know that they are not its proper guardians.

35. Their prayer at the House is nothing but whistling and clapping in place of the prayer of Islam which they have been commanded to do. So taste the punishment at Badr because you have disbelieved!

36. Those who disbelieve spend their wealth in support of the war against the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, barring access to the Way of Allah. They will spend it; then – after they see what happens – they will regret it because they will have both lost what they spent and and also failed to achieve their aim in doing it; then they will be overthrown in this world. Those who disbelieve will be gathered (driven) into Hell in the Next World…

37. …so that Allah can sift out (read as li-yumayyiza and li-yamiza) the bad (the unbelievers) from the good (the believers) and pile the bad on top of one another, heaping them all together, and tip them into Hell. They are the lost.

38. Say to those who disbelieve – such as Abu Sufyan and his companions – that if they stop their unbelief and fighting the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, they will be forgiven what is past of their actions; but if they return to it (fighting), they have the pattern of previous peoples in the past – referring to their destruction, which is what will happen to them as well.

39. Fight them until there is no more fitna (shirk) and the dın is Allah’s alone – meaning that only He is worshipped. If they stop their unbelief, Allah sees what they do and will reward them for it…

40. …but if they turn away from belief, know that Allah is your Master: your Supporter who is in charge of your affairs – the Best of Masters, and the Best of Helpers!

41. Know that when you take any booty from the unbelievers by military force a fifth of it belongs to Allah, and to the Messenger, and to close relatives of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, from the Banu Hashim and the Banu’l-Muttalib, orphans, children of Muslims whose fathers have died and were poor – the very poor, those in need among the Muslims, and travellers, Muslims on journeys. Thus one fifth goes to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and to the other four categories mentioned, so that each of five categories has a fifth of the fifth, and the remaining four- fifths go to those who took the booty – if you believe in Allah and in what We have sent down to Our slave Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace – referring both to the angels and other Signs – on the Day of Discrimination: the Day of Badr, when the truth was distinguished from the false, the day the two groups (the Muslims and the unbelievers) met Allah has power over all things – being able to give them victory in spite of their small number and the large number of the enemy –

42. … when you were on the nearer slope – nearer to Madina – and they were on the further slope, and the caravan was lower down than you – closer to the sea. If you had made an appointment with them to fight, you would have broken the appointment. However, it happened with no appointment so that Allah could settle a matter whose result was preordained in the foreknowledge of Allah – referring to the victory of Islam and the rout of unbelief: so that those unbelievers who died would die with clear proof established against them, and those believers who lived would live with clear proof of the victory of the believers despite their small numbers in the face of the vastly greater numbers of the enemy army. Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.

43. Remember when Allah showed them to you in your dream as only a few – and you told your Companions about your dream and they were happy. If He had shown you them as many, you would have lost heart (become cowardly) and quarrelled (argued with one another) about the matter (the order to fight); but Allah saved you from losing heart and quarrelling. He knows what your hearts contain.

44. Remember, believers, when Allah made you see them as few – about seventy or a hundred when they were in fact a thousand – when you met them, and also made you seem few in their eyes so that they would not withdraw from fighting. This was before battle was actually joined, because when battle was joined Allah made them seem twice their actual number as we find in Sura Al ‘Imran 3:13. This was so that Allah could settle a matter whose result was preordained. All matters return to Allah.

45. You who believe! When you meet a troop of unbelievers, stand firm when you fight and remember Allah repeatedly – asking for His help – so that perhaps you will be successful – gain victory.

46. Obey Allah and His Messenger and do not quarrel among yourselves lest you lose heart and fail and your momentum (strength and power) disappear. And be steadfast. Allah is with the steadfast, giving them His help and victory.

47. Do not be like those who left their homes in arrogance to prevent the Muslims from seizing their caravan and then did not turn back when they knew the caravan was safe, showing off to people – saying, “We will not return until we drink wine, slaughter camels and have tents set up for us at Badr,” making sure their words were heard – and thereby barring them from the way of Allah. Allah encompasses – has full knowledge of – what they do (read as ya‘ maluna and also ta‘ maluna, “you do”) and He will repay them for it…

48. …when Shaytan (Iblis) made their actions appear good to them by encouraging them to meet the Muslims when they feared that their enemies, the Banu Bakr, would come out, saying to them, ‘No one will overcome you today for I am at your side in Kinana.’ He came to them in the form of Suraqa ibn Malik, the chief of that region. But when the two parties (the Muslims and the unbelievers) came in sight of one another – and Shaytan saw the angels while he was holding the hand of al-Harith ibn Hisham – he turned right round on his heels and fled saying, ‘I wash my hands of you. I see what you do not see – meaning the angels. I fear that Allah will destroy me. Allah is severe in retribution.’

49. And when the hypocrites and those with sickness (weakness of belief) in their hearts said, ‘These people (the Muslims) have been deluded by their dın.’ The hypocrites said this when the Muslims went out to fight a large army, expecting to be victorious despite the smallness of their numbers. Allah Almighty answered them with the words: But those who put their trust in Allah will be victorious and will find Allah to be Almighty, in command of His affair, All-Wise in what He does.

50. If only you, Muhammad, could see when the angels take back (read as yatawaff and tatawaff) those who disbelieved at their death, beating their faces and their backs with iron bars and they will be told: ‘Taste the punishment of the Burning in the Fire!

51. That punishment is for what you did. Allah does not wrong His slaves.’ He does not punish them if they have committed no wrong.

52. Such was the case with Pharaoh’s people and those before them. They disbelieved in Allah’s Signs, so Allah seized them with punishment for their wrong actions. Allah is Strong, enabling Him to do whatever He wills, Severe in Retribution.

53. That is because Allah would never change a blessing He has conferred on a people – replacing it with its opposite – until they had changed what was in themselves out of unbelief – as the unbelievers of Makka exchanged their security from hunger and fear and the sending to them of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, for unbelief, barring people from the Way of Allah and fighting the believers. Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.

54. Such was the case with Pharaoh’s people and those before them. They denied their Lord’s Signs, so We destroyed them for their wrong actions. We drowned Pharaoh’s people together with him. All of them (those sinful nations) were wrongdoers.

55. The worst of animals in the sight of Allah are those who disbelieve and so do not believe, (this was revealed about the Banu Qurayza)

56. those with whom you make a treaty that they should not give support to the idolaters and who then break it every time. They show no fearfulness of Allah in their treachery.

57. So if you come upon such people in war, make a harsh example of them to mark them out by punishment in order to deter and admonish those coming after them so that perhaps they will pay heed.

58. If you fear treachery on the part of a people with whom you have made a treaty and their deception becomes clear to you, revoke your treaty with them mutually in a way in which both you and they will know that the treaty is revoked, so that they will not accuse you of treachery. Allah does not love treacherous people.

59. Do not imagine, Muhammad, that those who disbelieve have got ahead of Allah. They are quite powerless to escape Him.

60. Arm yourselves to fight against them with all the firepower – literally “strength” which, as related by Muslim, the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said here meant shooting – and cavalry – horses devoted to fighting in the Way of Allah – you can muster, to terrify the enemies of Allah and your enemies (the unbelievers of Makka) and others besides them whom you do not know (the hypocrites or the Jews). Allah knows them. Anything you spend in the Way of Allah will be repaid to you in full. You will not be wronged – you will not lose out in any way at all.

61. If they incline to peace (read as both silm and salm), you too incline to it and make a treaty with them – Ibn ‘Abbas said that this was abrogated by the “Ayat of the Sword”. Mujahid said that it is particular to the People of the Book since it was revealed about the Banu Qurayza – and put your trust in Allah. He is the All-Hearing of your words, the All-Knowing of your actions.

62. If they intend to deceive you by pretending to want peace when their true intention is to prepare their forces to fight you, Allah is enough for you. It is He who supported you with His help and with the believers…

63. …and unified their hearts which had been divided by old feuds. Even if you had spent everything on the earth, you could not have unified their hearts. But Allah has unified them by His power. He is Almighty, in control of His affair, All-Wise: nothing is neglected by His wisdom.

64. Prophet! Allah is enough for you, and enough for the believers who follow you.

65. Prophet! Spur on the believers to fight the unbelievers. If there are twenty of you who are steadfast, they will overcome two hundred; and if there are (read as yakun and takun) a hundred of you, they will overcome a thousand of those who disbelieve, because they are people who do not understand. This is a command in the form of a report ordering twenty to fight two hundred and a hundred to fight a thousand and ordering them to stand firm in spite of the odds. It was later abrogated by the next ayat when the number of Muslims grew.

66. Now Allah has made it lighter on you by removing the obligation of fighting when the odds are ten to one, knowing there is weakness (read as da‘f and du‘f) in you. If there are (read as yakun and takun) a hundred of you who are steadfast, they will overcome two hundred; and if there are a thousand of you, they will overcome two thousand with Allah’s permission (by Allah’s will). This is another command in the form of a report ordering the believers to now fight and stand firm when the odds are two to one. Allah is with the steadfast by means of His help to them.

67. This ayat was revealed when ransom was accepted for the captives of Badr. It is (read as yakun and takun) not fitting for a Prophet to take captives until he has let much blood in the land meaning slaughtered many unbelievers. You (believers) desire the goods of this world – the money you accepted as ransom – whereas Allah desires the reward of the Next World for you through fighting the unbelievers. Allah is Almighty, All-Wise. This ayat was abrogated by Allah’s words: “set them free or ransom them.” (47:4)

68. Were it not for a prior decree making booty and captives lawful for you, which had already proceeded from Allah, a terrible punishment would have afflicted you on account of what (the ransom) you took.

69. So make full use of any booty you have taken which is lawful and good; and be fearful of Allah. Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

70. Prophet! Say to those you are holding prisoner (read as al-asr and al-usara), ‘If Allah knows of any good (belief and sincerity) in your hearts, He will give you something better than what has been taken from you – referring to the ransom money, which Allah will return doubled and also give you a firm place in the Next World –and forgive you your wrong actions.’ Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

71. But if they (the captives) mean to betray you by the words they come out with, they have already previously betrayed Allah by theie unbelief before Badr, so He has given you power over them by your killing them and taking them prisoner at Badr, and they can expect the same result if they try again. Allah is All-Knowing of His creation, All-Wise in what He does.

72. Those who have believed and have emigrated and done jihad with their wealth and themselves in the Way of Allah (the Muhajirun), and those who have given refuge to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and help (the Ansar), they are the friends and protectors of one another with respect to support and inheritance. But as for those who believe but have not emigrated, you are not in any way responsible for their protection (read as wilaya and walaya) – in other words there is no inheritance between you and them and they have no share in any booty you take – until they emigrate. This was abrogated by the end of the sura. But if they ask you for help in respect of the dın, it is your duty to help them against the unbelievers, except against people you have a treaty with – in which case you should not break it by helping them. Allah sees what you do.

73. Those who disbelieve are the friends and protectors of one another with respect to support and inheritance. If you do not act in this way – in other words, if the Muslims do not take control and curb the idolaters – there will be turmoil in the land and great corruption because of the strength of unbelief and weakness of Islam.

74. Those who believe and have emigrated and done jihad in the Way of Allah, and those who have given refuge and help, they are the true believers. They will have forgiveness and generous provision in the Garden.

75. Those who believe and emigrate later on after the first wave of believers and Muhajirun and accompany you in jihad, they also are of your number, together with the Muhajirun and Ansar. But blood relations are closer to one another – more entitled to inherit from one another than the believers who are only connected by the belief and emigration mentioned in the previous ayat – in the Book of Allah – meaning the Preserved Tablet. Allah has knowledge of all things – among which is the wisdom of inheritance.