Tafseer of The Spoils of War · Al-Anfaal · 8:63
And brought together their hearts. If you had spent all that is in the earth, you could not have brought their hearts together; but Allah brought them together. Indeed, He is Exalted in Might and Wise.
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 discourse on the explanation of His statement: وَأَلَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِهِمْ لَوْ أَنْفَقْتَ مَا فِي الأَرْضِ جَمِيعًا مَا أَلَّفْتَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِهِمْ وَلَكِنَّ اللَّهَ أَلَّفَ بَيْنَهُمْ إِنَّهُ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ (And He has united their hearts. Had you spent all that is on earth, you could not have united their hearts, but Allah has united them; truly, He is Almighty, All-Wise) (63).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, exalted be His praise, means by His statement And He has united their hearts: and He has united the hearts of the believers from the Aws and the Khazraj, after division and dispersion, upon His true religion; and thus He made them thereby into one whole after they had been scattered, and into brothers after they had been enemies.
And His statement Had you spent all that is on earth, you could not have united their hearts, the Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: had you, O Muḥammad, spent all that is on earth of gold and silver and goods, you could not have united their hearts by your own strength and cunning; but Allah united them upon right guidance, so that they became intimate and joined together — as a strengthening from Allah for you, and as support and aid from Him against your enemy. He, exalted be His praise, says: and the One who did that and brought it about for you, until they became for you helpers and supporters and one hand against whoever intended you harm, is the One who, if an enemy plots something against you, protects you from his cunning and makes you prevail over him; so rely upon Him and carry out His command, and put your trust in Him.
And concerning the meaning of what we have said, the exegetes (of the Qurʾān) have spoken.
Mention of who said that:
16256 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: And He has united their hearts, he said: these are the Anṣār; He united their hearts after a war that had taken place between them.
16257 — Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Bashīr ibn Thābit, a man of the Anṣār, that he said concerning this verse: Had you spent all that is on earth, you could not have united their hearts, that is: the Anṣār.
16258 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: And He has united their hearts, upon the right guidance with which He sent you to them, Had you spent all that is on earth, you could not have united their hearts, but Allah has united them, through His religion upon which He gathered them — he means the Aws and the Khazraj.
16259 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Ibrāhīm al-Khūzī, on the authority of al-Walīd ibn Abī Mughīth, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: When two Muslims meet and shake hands, they are both forgiven. He (the transmitter) said: I said to Mujāhid: by a handshake they are both forgiven? Then Mujāhid said: have you not heard Him say: Had you spent all that is on earth, you could not have united their hearts? Then al-Walīd said to Mujāhid: you know more about it than I.
16260 — ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn Abī ʿUmayr related to us, saying: al-Walīd related to me, on the authority of Abū ʿAmr, he said: ʿAbda ibn Abī Lubāba related to me, on the authority of Mujāhid — and I met him and he took my hand and said: when two who love one another for the sake of Allah see each other, and one grasps the hand of his companion and smiles at him, then their sins fall away just as the leaves of the tree fall away. ʿAbda said: then I said to him: this is very easy indeed! He said: do not say that, for Allah says: Had you spent all that is on earth, you could not have united their hearts! ʿAbda said: then I knew that he possessed deeper insight (into the religion) than I.
16261 — Muḥammad ibn Khalaf related to me, saying: ʿUbaydallāh ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: Fuḍayl ibn Ghazwān related to us, saying: I came to Abū Isḥāq and greeted him and said: do you know me? Then (Abū Isḥāq said to) Fuḍayl: yes! Were it not out of bashfulness before you, I would kiss you — Abū al-Aḥwaṣ related to me, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh (ibn Masʿūd), who said: this verse was revealed concerning those who love one another for the sake of Allah: Had you spent all that is on earth, you could not have united their hearts.
16262 — Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: Ibn ʿAwn informed us, on the authority of ʿUmayr ibn Isḥāq, who said: it was related to us that the first thing to be taken away from people — or he said: among people — is mutual concord (al-ulfa).
16263 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdallāh ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam related to me, saying: Ayyūb ibn Suwayd related to us, on the authority of al-Awzāʿī, he said: ʿAbda ibn Abī Lubāba related to me, on the authority of Mujāhid — and he then mentioned something similar to the narration of ʿAbd al-Karīm, on the authority of al-Walīd.
16264 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Usāma, and Ibn Numayr, and Ḥafṣ ibn Ghiyāth related to us, on the authority of Fuḍayl ibn Ghazwān, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Abū al-Aḥwaṣ, who said: I heard ʿAbdallāh (ibn Masʿūd) say concerning Had you spent all that is on earth, you could not have united their hearts, the verse — he said: they are those who love one another for the sake of Allah.
And His statement truly, He is Almighty, All-Wise, he says: truly, Allah, who united the hearts of the Aws and the Khazraj after the scattering of their word and their mutual enmity, and who made them helpers for you, is "Almighty" — nothing overpowers Him, and no averter averts His decree, but He carries out His judgment among His creatures. He says: so put your trust in Him, and rely upon Him; "All-Wise" in the governance of His creatures.
