Tafseer of The Spoils of War · Al-Anfaal · 8:42
[Remember] when you were on the near side of the valley, and they were on the farther side, and the caravan was lower [in position] than you. If you had made an appointment [to meet], you would have missed the appointment. But [it was] so that Allah might accomplish a matter already destined - that those who perished [through disbelief] would perish upon evidence and those who lived [in faith] would live upon evidence; and indeed, Allah is Hearing and Knowing.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of the saying of Allah: إِذْ أَنْتُمْ بِالْعُدْوَةِ الدُّنْيَا وَهُمْ بِالْعُدْوَةِ الْقُصْوَى وَالرَّكْبُ أَسْفَلَ مِنْكُمْ ("When you were on the nearer bank and they were on the farther bank, and the caravan lower than you.")
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: Know with certainty, O believers, and know that the division of the war booty (ghanīma) is in accordance with that which your Lord has expounded to you, if you have believed in Allah and in what was sent down to His servant on the day of Badr, when He distinguished between the true and the false through the victory of His messenger — "When you," at that moment, "were on the nearer bank," that is: at the edge of the valley that is closest to Medina — "and they were on the farther bank," that is: and your enemy from among the polytheists (mushrikīn) had encamped at the edge of the valley that is farthest, the one closest to Mecca — "and the caravan lower than you," that is: and the trade caravan, in which were Abū Sufyān and his companions, was at a place lower than you, in the direction of the sea coast.
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And in accordance with what we have said about this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) spoke.
* Mention of who said that:
16139 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: "When you were on the nearer bank," he said: the edge of the nearer valley, and they were at the edge of the farther valley — "and the caravan lower than you," he said: Abū Sufyān and his companions, lower than they.
16140 — Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: "When you were on the nearer bank and they were on the farther bank" — these are both the edges of the valley. The prophet of Allah was at the upper part of the valley, and the polytheists at the lower part — "and the caravan lower than you," by which Abū Sufyān is meant, [he descended with the caravan along his flank], until he arrived with it in Mecca.
16141 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: "When you were on the nearer bank and they were on the farther bank," from the valley towards Mecca — "and the caravan lower than you," that is: the caravan of Abū Sufyān, which you had set out to capture and they had set out to defend, without any prearranged appointment on your part or on their part.
16142 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying: "and the caravan lower than you," he said: Abū Sufyān and his companions arrived as merchants from Syria (al-Shaʾm). They were not aware of the people of Badr, and Muḥammad ﷺ was not aware of the unbelievers of the Quraysh, nor were the unbelievers of the Quraysh aware of Muḥammad and his companions, until the water-fetchers of both parties met at the water of Badr. Then they fought, and the companions of Muḥammad ﷺ overcame them and took them captive.
16143 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, he said: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the like of it.
16144 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Isḥāq related to us, he said: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the like of it.
16145 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, he said: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, who mentioned the positions of the people and the caravan and said: "When you were on the nearer bank and they were on the farther bank," and the caravan, that is Abū Sufyān — "lower than you," at the coast of the sea.
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And the reciters differed concerning the reading of His saying: "When you were on the bank (al-ʿudwa)."
The majority of the reciters of Medina and Kūfa read it as (bi-l-ʿUdwa), with a ḍamma on the ʿayn.
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And some reciters of Mecca and Basra read it as (bi-l-ʿIdwa), with a kasra on the ʿayn.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: They are both two well-known linguistic variants with the same meaning, so with whichever of the two the reciter recites, he has acted correctly. One recites the verse of al-Rāʿī:
"And two eyes, red of rim, as the young wild calf looked towards the bank (al-ʿidwa),"
with a kasra on the ʿayn of "al-ʿidwa". And likewise one recites the verse of Aws ibn Ḥajar:
"And a knight — were the cavalry to enter his bank (ʿidwatahu), they would swiftly turn away, and they would not think of pressing forward."
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The explanation of the saying of Allah: وَلَوْ تَوَاعَدْتُمْ لاخْتَلَفْتُمْ فِي الْمِيعَادِ وَلَكِنْ لِيَقْضِيَ اللَّهُ أَمْرًا كَانَ مَفْعُولا ("And had you made an appointment with one another, you would have disagreed about the time; but in order that Allah might accomplish a matter that was to be carried out.")
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, means: And had your coming together at the place where you came together — you, O believers, and your enemy from among the polytheists — been on the basis of an appointment on your part and on their part, "you would have disagreed about the time," because of the great number of your enemy and the smallness of your number; but Allah brought you together without an appointment between you and them — "in order that Allah might accomplish a matter that was to be carried out." And that decree of Allah was His aid to His protégés among those who believe in Allah and His messenger, and the destruction of His enemies and their enemies at Badr through killing and captivity, as:
16146 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: "And had you made an appointment with one another, you would have disagreed about the time" — and had that been on the basis of an appointment on your part and on their part, and then the great number of their host and the smallness of your number had reached you, you would not have met them — "but in order that Allah might accomplish a matter that was to be carried out," that is: in order that Allah, through His power, might accomplish what He willed, namely the raising up of Islam and its people, and the abasement of the assigning of partners (shirk) and its people, without consultation on your part; thus He did, through His graciousness, what He willed of that.
16147 — Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said: Yūnus ibn Shihāb informed me, he said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Kaʿb ibn Mālik informed me: that ʿAbd Allāh ibn Kaʿb said: I heard Kaʿb ibn Mālik say concerning the expedition (ghazwa) of Badr: The messenger of Allah ﷺ and the Muslims set out only with the intention of seizing the caravan of the Quraysh, until Allah brought them and their enemy together without an appointment.
16148 — Yaʿqūb related to me, he said: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Ibn ʿAwn, on the authority of ʿUmayr ibn Isḥāq, he said: Abū Sufyān arrived with the caravan from Syria, and Abū Jahl set out to protect it from the messenger of Allah ﷺ and his companions. They met one another at Badr, while the one party was not aware of the other, nor the other of the one, until the water-fetchers met one another. He said: and the people fell upon one another.
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The explanation of the saying of Allah: لِيَهْلِكَ مَنْ هَلَكَ عَنْ بَيِّنَةٍ وَيَحْيَا مَنْ حَيَّ عَنْ بَيِّنَةٍ وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَسَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ (42) ("So that he who was to perish might perish upon a clear proof, and he who was to live might live upon a clear proof. And verily, Allah is indeed All-Hearing, All-Knowing.") (42)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: but Allah brought them together there, in order that He might accomplish a matter that was to be carried out — "so that he who was to perish might perish upon a clear proof."
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And this lām in His saying "so that he might perish" (li-yahlik) is a repetition of the lām in His saying "in order that He might accomplish" (li-yaqḍiya), as if He said: but in order that he who was to perish might perish upon a clear proof, He brought you together.
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And by His saying "so that he who was to perish might perish upon a clear proof" He means: so that he who dies of His creatures might die upon a proof of Allah established against him and cutting off his excuse, and a lesson which he beheld and saw with his own eyes — "and he who was to live might live upon a clear proof," that is: and so that he who lives of them might live upon a proof of Allah established against him and made visible to his eye so that he knew it; We brought you and your enemy together there.
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And Ibn Isḥāq said about that what follows:
16149 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: "so that he who was to perish might perish upon a clear proof," [that is: so that he who becomes an unbeliever might become an unbeliever after the proof], because of what he saw of sign and lesson, and he who becomes a believer might become a believer upon the same.
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As for His saying "And verily, Allah is indeed All-Hearing, All-Knowing" — its meaning is: "And verily, Allah," O believers, "is indeed All-Hearing," of your word and the word of others than you, at the moment that Allah showed His prophet in his sleep, and you in your eyes, your enemy as few in number, while they were many, and your enemy saw you as few in number in their eyes — "All-Knowing," of what your souls conceal and to what your hearts incline, at that moment and in every state.
The Exalted, whose praise is great, says to them and to His servants: so fear your Lord, O people, in your speaking: that you speak nothing but with right; and in your hearts: that you harbor in them nothing but right guidance (al-rushd); for from Allah nothing hidden remains concealed, neither of the outward nor of the inward.
