Surah Al-Anfal English Translation & Transliteration

¹They ask you about the spoils of war. Say: —The spoils belong to Allah and the Messenger. Act responsibly toward Allah and set right the relations among you. If you truly believe and are believers, obey Allah and His Messenger, who conveys Allah's messages.

²The true believers are those whose hearts tremble when Allah's name is mentioned, whose faith increases when His verses are recited to them, and who rely and trust in their Lord alone.

³They also perform the prayer as it should be performed, and spend in Allah's way from what We have provided them.

⁴It is they who are truly believers. With their Lord they have lofty ranks, boundless forgiveness, and splendid provision.

⁵Recall how, when your Lord brought you out of your home for a true purpose, a group of the believers were not at all pleased with this.

⁶Even after the truth had become clear, they kept arguing with you, as if they were being driven to death before their very eyes.

⁷Recall when Allah promised you that one of the two parties would fall into your hands. You wanted the weak and unprotected one. But Allah, in accordance with His promise and decree, wished to bring the truth to light and to cut off the disbelievers at the root,

⁸so that He might show the truth to be true and falsehood to be false, however much the guilty might dislike it.

⁹Recall when you were asking your Lord for help, and He answered you: —I will help you with a thousand angels coming one after another.

¹⁰Allah did this only as good news for you, so that your hearts might be set at ease and your morale raised. For victory and help come from Allah alone. Allah is mighty, and He decides rightly.

¹¹Recall when He made a light, pleasant sleep overcome you to give you calm and a sense of security, and sent down water upon you from the sky to cleanse you, remove from you the filth of Satan, strengthen your hearts, and make your feet firm.

¹²At that moment your Lord made known to the angels: —I am with you, so give the believers resolve and courage; I will cast fear into the hearts of the disbelievers; strike above their necks, and strike their fingers!

¹³This is because they defied Allah and His Messenger, who conveys Allah's messages. Whoever defies Allah and His Messenger, who conveys Allah's message, let him know well that Allah's punishment is very severe.

¹⁴This is for you, so taste it! And for the disbelievers there is also the punishment of the Fire in the Hereafter.

¹⁵—O you who believe, when you meet the disbelievers massed for battle, do not turn your backs on them and flee!

¹⁶Whoever turns his back and flees during battle, except to withdraw as a tactic or to join another unit, incurs Allah's wrath, and his abode will be Hell. What an evil final destination that is!

¹⁷It was not you who killed them; in truth it was Allah who killed them. (It was Allah who gave you this means and courage.) And when you threw, it was not you who threw; in truth it was Allah who threw. All this He did so that the believers might come through a fine test. Surely Allah hears all and knows all.

¹⁸This is your punishment. For Allah is the One who renders the disbelievers' schemes ineffective.

¹⁹Since you wanted victory, here is victory for you! If you put an end to your aggression, it will be better for you; and if you return to aggression, We too will return to punishing you. Your army will be of no use to you, however numerous it may be, for Allah is with the believers.

²⁰—O you who believe, obey Allah and His Messenger, who conveys Allah's messages! Do not turn away from him while you keep hearing his message!

²¹Do not be like those who say, "We have heard and obeyed," while paying no heed.

²²In Allah's sight, the worst of living creatures are those who do not use their reason, who are deaf and dumb to the truth.

²³Had Allah seen any good disposition and conduct in them, He would surely have made them hear. Yet even if He had made them hear, they would still have turned away and gone back.

²⁴—O you who believe! When Allah and His Messenger, who conveys Allah's messages, call you to what will give you life, respond to this call! And know well that Allah comes between a person and his heart, and do not forget that you will be gathered before Him.

²⁵Guard yourselves and be on your guard against a turmoil (fitna) whose harm will not be confined only to the wrongdoers among you who stirred it up. Know well that in such a case Allah is very severe in punishment.

²⁶Remember how once you were a weak, oppressed minority in the land, fearing that people would wipe you out. But Allah sheltered you/gave you a homeland, strengthened you with His help, and provided you with wholesome things, so that you might be grateful.

²⁷—O you who believe! Do not betray Allah and His Messenger, who conveys Allah's messages; for then you will have knowingly betrayed your trusts!

²⁸Know well that the wealth and children you possess are a means of testing. And with Allah there is a great reward.

²⁹—O you who believe! If you act responsibly toward Allah, He will give you the ability to distinguish good from evil, cover over your sins, and forgive you. Allah is the possessor of magnificent grace/generosity.

³⁰Recall when the disbelievers were laying traps for you, to imprison you, kill you, or drive you into exile. They were laying traps, but Allah was foiling those traps. For Allah is the best of those who foil traps.

³¹When Our verses were recited to them, they said: "We have heard; if we wished, we too could say the like of this; this is nothing but the legends of the ancients."

³²And they had also said: —O Allah, if this Quran is the truth from You, then rain stones down on us from the sky or bring a painful punishment upon us!

³³Yet Allah was not going to punish them while you were among them, nor would Allah punish them as long as there were those among them seeking forgiveness.

³⁴But why should Allah not punish them, when they bar people from al-Masjid al-Haram? Moreover, they are not its true guardians. Its true guardians/those worthy of it are only the muttaqin/those who guard themselves against sin. But most of them do not know this.

³⁵What they call worship at the House consists of nothing but whistling and clapping/obstructing true worship. So taste the punishment for covering up the truth!

³⁶Those who have turned to disbelief spend their wealth to bar people from Allah's path. They will spend more. Then it will become a source of regret for them, and after that they will be defeated. And in the end those who have turned to disbelief will be gathered in Hell.

³⁷Thus Allah will separate the foul from the pure, heap the foul one upon another, gather them all together, and fill Hell with them all. It is they who are the true losers.

³⁸Tell those who have sunk into disbelief that, if they desist, what they have done before will be forgiven; but if they return to their old ways, Allah's established way/laws applied to those before them are there before their eyes!

³⁹Fight them until the pressure and oppression directed against faith come to an end and religion belongs wholly to Allah/freedom of belief is secured! If they give up pressure and oppression, Allah sees what they do.

⁴⁰If they return to pressure and oppression, know that Allah is your Patron/Protector. What an excellent Patron/Protector and what an excellent Helper He is!

⁴¹If you believe in Allah and in what We sent down to Our servant, the revelation, the Quran, on the day the two armies met and truth was separated from falsehood, and in the victory, then know that one fifth of the spoils you gain in war belongs to Allah, to His Messenger who conveys Allah's messages, to his relatives, to orphans, to the poor, and to stranded travelers. For Allah sets a measure for all things.

⁴²Recall when you were on the northern slope of the valley, near Medina, and they were on the southern slope, far from Medina, and the caravan was below you, toward the sea. Even if you had made an appointment, you could not have timed it so well and would have fallen into disagreement; but Allah unexpectedly confronted you with battle, so that whoever perished would perish with clear proof, and whoever won would win with clear proof. Surely Allah hears all and knows all.

⁴³Allah was showing them as few in your eyes. Had He shown them as many, you would have lost heart and fallen into dispute over whether or not to fight. But Allah kept you safe from this trouble, for He knows the fears and anxieties within hearts.

⁴⁴Recall when you met the enemy, He was showing them as few in your eyes, and you as few in their eyes, so that Allah might bring about what was to be. All matters and events in the end come round to Allah.

⁴⁵O you who believe! When you meet an enemy force, stand firm and steadfast, and remember Allah much, so that you may attain victory.

⁴⁶Obey Allah and His Messenger, who conveys Allah's messages, and do not quarrel with one another; otherwise you will lose your resolve, grow weak, and fall apart. Stand firm against the hardships you face, for Allah is with those who stand firm.

⁴⁷Do not be like those who left their homes in arrogance and pride, showing off before people, and who bar people from Allah's path! Allah encompasses all that they do.

⁴⁸Then Satan made their deeds seem attractive to them and said: —Today no power can defeat you, for I am at your side. But when the two armies came face to face, he ran off, saying: —I am no longer with you, for I see what you do not see; moreover, I fear Allah, for Allah's punishment is very severe.

⁴⁹The two-faced hypocrites, who pretend to believe when they do not, and those in whose hearts there is sickness, were saying (of the Muslims): —These people have been deluded by their religion. Yet whoever trusts in Allah should know that Allah possesses supreme power and decides rightly in His judgment.

⁵⁰If only you could see them when the angels take the souls of those who have turned to disbelief, striking their faces and their backs and saying: "Taste the punishment of burning!"

⁵¹This is the recompense for what your own hands have done; for there is no possibility of Allah wronging His servants.

⁵²Their attitude and conduct are just like the attitude and conduct of Pharaoh's dynasty and those before them. They covered up Allah's verses, refused to believe, and became disbelievers. So Allah punished them for their sins; surely Allah is all-strong and very severe in punishment.

⁵³This is because of the truth that Allah does not change the blessings He has given to a people until that people change their own inner selves. And Allah hears all and knows all.

⁵⁴Yes, their attitude and course are just like the course of Pharaoh's dynasty and those before them. They clung to lies in the face of their Lord's verses, and so We destroyed them for their sins. And We drowned Pharaoh's dynasty too. Every one of them had sunk into sin, persisting in wrongdoing.

⁵⁵In Allah's sight, the worst of the creatures on the earth are the disbelievers who cover up the truth; they will not now believe and become believers.

⁵⁶As for those with whom you have made a covenant and who then irresponsibly break that covenant/treaty every time:

⁵⁷if you catch them in war, scatter them so as to make an example of them for those who come behind them, so that they may come to their senses.

⁵⁸When a people's treachery against a treaty becomes evident, declare that you consider the treaty made with them void! For Allah does not love the treacherous at all.

⁵⁹Let not those who have turned to disbelief think that they can get away from Us. For they will never escape Our hand.

⁶⁰Prepare as much strength, power, and war-horses as you can, to frighten off and deter Allah's enemy, who is therefore your enemy too, and other enemies whom you do not yet know but Allah knows. Whatever you spend for this in Allah's way will be repaid to you without any reduction.

⁶¹If they incline toward peace, then you too be on the side of peace! And always trust in Allah. Surely He hears all and knows all.

⁶²And if they want to deceive you with an offer of peace, Allah is surely enough for you. It is He who strengthened you with His help and with the believers.

⁶³For Allah bound their hearts together. Even if you had spent all the wealth on earth, you could not have reconciled their hearts; but Allah bound them together, for He possesses supreme power and decides rightly in every judgment.

⁶⁴—O Prophet! Allah is enough as a friend and helper for you and for the believers who follow you.

⁶⁵—O Prophet! Encourage the believers to fight; twenty steadfast and courageous ones among you can overcome two hundred disbelievers, and if there are a hundred of you, they can overcome a thousand of the disbelievers, for they do not understand the worth of giving one's life in Allah's way.

⁶⁶Allah has lightened your burden, in view of your present situation and because He knows the weakness in you. Even so, a hundred steadfast and courageous ones among you can overcome two hundred. And if there are a thousand of you, they can, by Allah's leave, defeat two thousand in this case too. For Allah is with those who stand firm in their cause.

⁶⁷It is not fitting for a prophet to take captives in battle until he has gained a crushing superiority over the enemy. You desire the goods and wealth of the passing world, whereas Allah wants you to win the Hereafter; for Allah is absolutely powerful and decides rightly in every judgment.

⁶⁸Had there not been a decision and law already issued by Allah, a great punishment would have struck you because of the ransom and spoils you took.

⁶⁹So now enjoy what is clean and lawful of the spoils you have gained. Act responsibly toward Allah; surely Allah is matchless in forgiveness and an infinite source of mercy.

⁷⁰—O Prophet, say to the captives in your hands: —If Allah sees that faith has settled in your hearts, He will grant you something better than what was taken from you as spoils, and He will forgive you; for Allah is matchless in forgiveness and an endless source of mercy.

⁷¹If the captives want to betray you, they had already betrayed Allah before. And Allah enabled you to get the better of them. Allah knows intentions and decides rightly in His judgment.

⁷²The believers who believed, emigrated for the sake of their faith, and strove with all their might in Allah's way with their wealth and their lives, and the believers who embraced them and helped them, they are each other's protectors/friends and helpers. But as for those who believed but have not yet emigrated from the land of disbelief, you have no responsibility to protect and look after them until they emigrate. Nevertheless, if they ask you for help because of religious pressure and persecution, helping them is an obligation upon you. But let this help not be against a people with whom you have a non-aggression covenant/treaty. Allah sees all that you do.

⁷³The disbelievers are each other's protectors/friends and supporters. If you do not become each other's friends and supporters too, there will be pressure and oppression against faith on the earth, and terrible corruption.

⁷⁴Those who believed, emigrated for the sake of their faith, and strove with all their might in Allah's way, and those who opened their arms to them, sheltered them, and helped them, it is they who are the true believers. For them there is vast forgiveness and fine provision.

⁷⁵And those who believed later, emigrated, and strove (waged jihad) alongside you, they too are of you. In addition, those bound by ties of kinship are closer to one another in Allah's Book/law. Surely Allah knows all things.