Tafseer of The Spoils of War · Al-Anfaal · 8:70
O Prophet, say to whoever is in your hands of the captives, "If Allah knows [any] good in your hearts, He will give you [something] better than what was taken from you, and He will forgive you; and Allah is Forgiving and Merciful."
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.
Explanation of the meaning of His word: يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ قُلْ لِمَنْ فِي أَيْدِيكُمْ مِنَ الأَسْرَى إِنْ يَعْلَمِ اللَّهُ فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ خَيْرًا يُؤْتِكُمْ خَيْرًا مِمَّا أُخِذَ مِنْكُمْ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ (70) (O Prophet, say to the prisoners of war who are in your hands: if Allah knows any good in your hearts, He will give you something better than what was taken from you, and He will forgive you. And Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.) (70)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says to His prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: O Prophet, say to those who are in your hands and in the hands of your companions among the prisoners of war from the polytheists (mushrikīn), from whom the ransom that was taken has been taken: (if Allah knows any good in your hearts) — He says: if Allah knows Islam in your hearts — (He will give you something better than what was taken from you), namely of the ransom — (and He will forgive you), He says: and He will remit for you the punishment for the crime you committed by warring against the prophet of Allah and his companions and by your unbelief (kufr) in Allah — (and Allah is Forgiving) of the sins of His servants when they repent — (Merciful) toward them, that He should punish them for that after the repentance.
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And it has been mentioned that al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib used to say: This verse was sent down concerning me.
* Mention of who said that:
16321 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: al-ʿAbbās said: It was sent down concerning me: مَا كَانَ لِنَبِيٍّ أَنْ يَكُونَ لَهُ أَسْرَى حَتَّى يُثْخِنَ فِي الأَرْضِ (It is not for a prophet to have prisoners of war until he has subdued [the enemy] in the land). I informed the Prophet ﷺ of my Islam, and I asked him to credit me with the twenty ūqiya (units of weight in gold) that he had taken from me, but he refused. Allah gave me in its place twenty slaves (ʿabīd), all of them traders, with my wealth in their hands.
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And:
16322 — Ibn Ḥumayd related this report to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Muḥammad [ibn Isḥāq] said: al-Kalbī related to me, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, on the authority of Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Riʾāb, who said: al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib used to say: By Allah, it was sent down concerning me, when I mentioned my Islam to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — then he mentioned something similar to the report of Ibn Wakīʿ.
16323 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: (say to the prisoners of war who are in your hands), the verse. He said: It was mentioned to us that when the wealth of Bahrain came to the prophet of Allah ﷺ — eighty thousand — and he had performed the ablution for the noon prayer, that day he denied nothing to anyone who complained and refused nothing to any petitioner, and that day he did not pray until he had distributed it. And he commanded al-ʿAbbās to take from it and scoop with both hands, and he took. He said: and al-ʿAbbās used to say: This is better than what was taken from us, and I hope for the forgiveness.
16324 — al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: (O Prophet, say to the prisoners of war who are in your hands), the verse. al-ʿAbbās had been taken prisoner on the day of Badr, and he ransomed himself with forty ūqiya of gold. al-ʿAbbās said when this verse was sent down: Allah has given me two qualities which I would not wish to exchange for the world: that I was taken prisoner on the day of Badr and ransomed myself with forty ūqiya, and He gave me forty slaves; and I hope for the forgiveness that Allah promised us.
16325 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: (O Prophet, say to the prisoners of war who are in your hands) up to His word: (and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful), by which is meant: whoever was taken prisoner on the day of Badr. He says: if you act in obedience to Me and are sincere toward My Messenger, I will give you something better than what was taken from you, and I will forgive you.
16326 — al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ al-Khurāsānī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: (O Prophet, say to the prisoners of war who are in your hands), [that is] al-ʿAbbās and his companions. He said: They said to the Prophet ﷺ: We believe in what you have brought, and we testify that you are truly the Messenger of Allah; we shall surely give you sincere counsel against our own people. Then there was sent down: (if Allah knows any good in your hearts, He will give you something better than what was taken from you) — [any good, namely] faith and affirmation — He will give you in its place something better than what was taken from you — (and He will forgive you) the shirk in which you were. He said: and al-ʿAbbās used to say: I would not wish that this verse had not been sent down concerning us, even if I were to possess the whole world. For He has said: (He will give you something better than what was taken from you), and He has given me a hundredfold something better than what was taken from me, and He has said: (and He will forgive you), and I hope that I have been forgiven.
16327 — It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, saying: I heard Abū Muʿādh say, saying: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His word: (O Prophet, say to the prisoners of war who are in your hands), the verse, [that is] al-ʿAbbās and his companions, who were taken prisoner on the day of Badr. Allah says: if you act in obedience to Me and are sincere toward Me and My Messenger, I will give you something better than what was taken from you, and I will forgive you. And al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib used to say: Allah has given us two qualities above which nothing surpasses: twenty slaves. And as for the second: we are in the promise of the Truthful One, awaiting the forgiveness of Allah, the Exalted.
