🕋 تفسير سورة الأنفال
(Al-Anfal) • المصدر: EN-ASBAB-AL-NUZUL-BY-AL-WAHIDI
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْأَنْفَالِ ۖ قُلِ الْأَنْفَالُ لِلَّهِ وَالرَّسُولِ ۖ فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَأَصْلِحُوا ذَاتَ بَيْنِكُمْ ۖ وَأَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ
📘 (They ask thee (O Muhammad) of the spoils of war. Say: The spoils of war belong to Allah and the messenger�) [8:1]. Abu Sa�id al-Nasruyiyy informed us> Abu Bakr al-Qati�i> �Abd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal> his father> Abu Mu�awiyah> Abu Ishaq al-Shaybani> Muhammad ibn �Ubayd Allah al-Thaqafi> Sa�d ibn Abi Waqqas who said: �On the day of Badr my brother �Umayr was killed and I killed Sa�id ibn al-�As and took his sword which was named al-Kifah. I went to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, and he told me to go and put the sword with the captured booty which was still undivided. I went back in a state which only Allah knew as a result of the killing of my brother and the loss of my spoil. I did not go very far when Surah al-Anfal was revealed. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, called me and said: �Go and take back your sword!� �. �Ikrimah reported that Ibn �Abbas said: �On the day of Badr, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: �Whoever does such-and-such will get such-and-such�. And so the younger men went and the old remained under the banners. When it was time to divide the booty, those younger men came to ask for their share, but the old said: �Do not exclude us, for we were under the banners, and if you had been defeated, we would have been a shield for you�. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed (They ask thee (O Muhammad) of the spoils of war. Say: The spoils of war belong to Allah and the messenger�), and the booty was divided on them in equal shares�. Abu Bakr ibn al-Harith informed us> �Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ja�far> Abu Yahya> Sahl ibn �Uthman> Yahya ibn Abi Za�idah> Ibn Abi al-Zinad> �Abd al-Rahman ibn al-Harith> Sulayman ibn Musa ibn al-Ashdaq> Makhul> Abu Salam al-Bahili> Abu Umamah al-Bahili> �Ubadah ibn al-Samit who said: �When the enemy was defeated on the day of Badr, a group of men followed them to exterminate them, while one group surrounded the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, [to protect him] and another group seized the booty and spoils. When Allah banished the enemy and those who went after came back, they said: �The booty belongs to us, we have chased the enemy and it is through us that Allah has defeated and banished them�.
فَلَمْ تَقْتُلُوهُمْ وَلَٰكِنَّ اللَّهَ قَتَلَهُمْ ۚ وَمَا رَمَيْتَ إِذْ رَمَيْتَ وَلَٰكِنَّ اللَّهَ رَمَىٰ ۚ وَلِيُبْلِيَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ مِنْهُ بَلَاءً حَسَنًا ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ
📘 Thou didst not throw when thou threwest, but God threw; and that He may try the faithful with a beautiful trial. When thou threwest is dispersion, but God threw is togetherness. Dispersion is the attribute of servanthood, and togetherness is the description of Lordhood. Dispersion without togetherness is of no use, and togetherness without dispersion is not correct. Sheer dispersion without togetherness is the belief of the free-willers, sheer togetherness with- out dispersion is the religion of the predestinarians, and dispersion along with togetherness is the road of the Sunnis and is correct. The free-willers are those who give themselves ability and choice and do not step outside of themselves. The predestinarians are those who lose their own hands and feet to the harshness of all-compellingness; they do not see the secondary causes and give them- selves no free choice. The Sunnis are those who say to them, “In your practice be at the threshold of Thee alone we worship; in your heart ask, weep, and supplicate at the threshold of Thee alone we ask for help [1:5].” Thou didst not throw when thou threwest, but God threw. This is an allusion to the reality of solitariness and the path of unification. He is saying: “Leave aside all other objects of desire. What does he who is seized by My love have to do with other than Me? O MuḤammad, lay no favor on Me because of your activity, but look at My success-giving! Be not delighted at your own remembrance-look at My instruction! Flee from your own marks and see only My love!” The path of unification is oneness and estrangement from self. Giving marks of “me” and “us” is duality, and duality is proof of estrangement. With duality there are today and tomorrow, but the tawḤīd-voicer is apart from today and tomorrow. As long as the tawḤīd-voicer has not found the shadow of the Sun of existence, he has not been released from self. As long as he has not been released from self, he has not found the Real. When thou threwest is the attribute of the desirer who is sitting on the road of variegation and gazing on himself from the Real. But God threw is the description of the desired; having left him- self behind and found stability, he gazes on the Real from the Real.
إِنْ تَسْتَفْتِحُوا فَقَدْ جَاءَكُمُ الْفَتْحُ ۖ وَإِنْ تَنْتَهُوا فَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ ۖ وَإِنْ تَعُودُوا نَعُدْ وَلَنْ تُغْنِيَ عَنْكُمْ فِئَتُكُمْ شَيْئًا وَلَوْ كَثُرَتْ وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
📘 ((O Quraysh!) If ye sought a judgment, now hath the judgment come unto you�) [8:19]. Al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Farisi informed us> Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah ibn al-Fadl al-Tajir> Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Hafiz> Muhammad ibn Yahya> Ya'qub ibn Ibrahim ibn Sa'd> his father> Salih> Ibn Shihab> 'Abd Allah ibn Tha'labah ibn Su'ayr who said: �The person who sought judgment was Abu Jahl. He said when the two armies met: 'O Allah, destroy this day whoever amongst us has severed ties of kinship and brought that which we had never known!' This was the judgement that he sought. Allah, exalted is He, revealed regarding this ((O Quraysh!) If ye sought a judgment, now hath the judgment come unto you�) up to His words (Allah is with the believers)�. This was narrated by al-Hakim Abu 'Abd Allah in his Sahih from al-Qati'i from the son of Ibn Hanbal from Ahmad ibn Hanbal from Ya'qub. Said al-Suddi and al-Kalbi: �Before they set off to fight the Prophet, Allah bless him and give peace, in Uhud, the idolaters grabbed the covers of the Ka'bah and prayed: 'O Allah, give victory to the greatest of the two armies, the most guided of the two camps, the noblest of the two parties and the best of the two religions', and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse�. 'Ikrimah said: �The idolaters said: 'O Allah, we do not recognize that which Muhammad has brought, so judge between us with the truth', and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse (If ye sought a judgment�)�.
إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الَّذِينَ إِذَا ذُكِرَ اللَّهُ وَجِلَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَإِذَا تُلِيَتْ عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتُهُ زَادَتْهُمْ إِيمَانًا وَعَلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ يَتَوَكَّلُونَ
📘 The faithful are only those whose hearts quake when God is remembered. The faithful are those who fear God. In this verse He makes fear a precondition of faith, just as He says elsewhere: “Fear Me if you have faith” [3:175]. Fear is the protection of faith, the fortress of the religion, and the interceder for sins. When a heart does not have fear, that heart is in ruins, a source of trouble and deprived of God's gaze. In this verse He says that the faithful are those whose hearts fear and tremble at the remembrance of God. In another place He says, “Those who have faith and whose hearts are serene in the remem- brance of God” [13:28]. This alludes to the fact that the faithful are those whose hearts are at ease and rest in the remembrance of God. The former is the mark of the beginners, and the latter is the description of the advanced. At the beginning of his traveling, the servant always weeps, wails, and moans. He weeps so much in dread of separation that the call “Fear not!” [41:30] reaches his secret core. He comes away from the dread of separation to the repose of union. In this station he is at ease and delighted, his heart at rest. This is why He says, “whose hearts are serene in the remembrance of God.” It has also been said that whose hearts quake is the description of the desirer, and whose hearts are serene is the attribute of the desired. Whose hearts quake is the watchword of the folk of the Shariah, and whose hearts are serene is the blanket of the folk of the Haqiqah. Whose hearts quake is the station of the travelers, and whose hearts are serene is the mark of the snatched away. The travelers are in the road of the Shariah in the station of service hoping for blessings, and the snatched away are caressed on the carpet of the Haqiqah, given access to proximity and nearness by the Patron of Blessings.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اسْتَجِيبُوا لِلَّهِ وَلِلرَّسُولِ إِذَا دَعَاكُمْ لِمَا يُحْيِيكُمْ ۖ وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ يَحُولُ بَيْنَ الْمَرْءِ وَقَلْبِهِ وَأَنَّهُ إِلَيْهِ تُحْشَرُونَ
📘 O you who have faith, respond to God and the Messenger when he invites you to that which will give you life, and know that God comes between a man and his heart, and unto Him you will be mustered. In the tongue of the folk of allusion, response is of two sorts: one is the response of tawḤīd, and the other the response of realization. TawḤīd is that the faithful say “one,” and realization is that the rec- ognizers be one. TawḤīd is the attribute of the travelers, and realization is the state of those snatched away. The first is the attribute of the Bosom Friend, the second the attribute of the Beloved. The Bosom Friend was a traveler and stood before the Exalted Threshold in the station of service: “Surely I have turned my face toward Him who originated the heavens and the earth, un- swerving” [6:79]. The Beloved was snatched away, sitting in reverence at the top of good fortune. The Beginningless Presence addressed him, “Peace be upon thee, O Prophet, and God's mercy and His blessing.” The traveling of the wayfarers lies in the outward response of following the Messenger. The attraction of the snatched away lies in the secret core's response of contemplating the Knower of Unseen Things. This is why that master of the Tariqah said, “Respond to God in your secret core and His Mes- senger through your outwardness when he invites you to that which will give you life. The life of the souls is through following the Messenger, and the life of the hearts is through contemplating the unseen things.” May I be a ransom for the men dwelling in the Unseen, their secret cores roaming in all that is there! The reality of life will not be turned over to anyone among the folk of creation without the response of tawḤīd and the signet of realization. Hence this call of exaltedness came from the prophetic presence: “I have been commanded to fight the people until they say 'No god but God.'” When He invites you to that which will give you life. In reality the folk of life and the living are those who are pure of backsliding, far from suspicion, famous for friendship, released from the ruling power of the soul, their hearts joined to the Patron, their secret cores adorned with awareness of the Real, alive in the breeze of intimacy, having found the beginningless reminder and reached the Friend The Pir of the Tariqah said, “O God, nothing other than recognizing You is happiness, and nothing other than finding You is life.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَخُونُوا اللَّهَ وَالرَّسُولَ وَتَخُونُوا أَمَانَاتِكُمْ وَأَنْتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ
📘 (O ye who believe! Betray not Allah and His messenger�) [8:27]. This verse was revealed about Abu Lubabah ibn �Abd al-Mundhir al-Ansari. What happened is that the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, besieged the Jews of Banu Qurayzah for 21 nights when they requested peace from the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, on the same terms that their brothers from Banu�l-Nadir had secured before, i.e. that they join their brothers in Adhri�at and Jericho in Syria. But he refused to grant it to them and insisted that they submit to the judgment of Sa�d ibn Mu�adh. They refused to do so and said: �Send us Abu Lubabah, instead�. Abu Lubabah was loyal to them, for his property, wife and children were with them. When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, sent him to them, they said to him: �O Abu Lubabah, what do you think we should do? Should we accept the judgment of Sa�d ibn Mu�adh?� Abu Lubabah made a gesture to his throat, i.e. that they should not do it, for they will be slaughtered. Abu Lubabah said: �I straightaway realised that I had betrayed Allah and His Messenger�. And then this verse was revealed about him. When the verse was revealed, Abu Lubabah tied himself to one of the columns of the mosques and said: �By Allah, I will not taste food or drink until Allah relents on me or I die�. He remained in this state for seven days, neither eating nor drinking, until Allah, exalted is He, relented on him. When it was said to him: �O Abu Lubabah! You have been pardoned�, he said: �By Allah, I will not untie myself; I want the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, to untie me�. The Prophet went and untied him with his own hands. Abu Lubabah then said: �The completion of my repentance requires that I migrate from the abode of my people where I had committed the sin and that I let go of my property�. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said to him: �It is enough that you give a third of it to charity�.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنْ تَتَّقُوا اللَّهَ يَجْعَلْ لَكُمْ فُرْقَانًا وَيُكَفِّرْ عَنْكُمْ سَيِّئَاتِكُمْ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ۗ وَاللَّهُ ذُو الْفَضْلِ الْعَظِيمِ
📘 O you who have faith, if you are wary of God, He will appoint for you a criterion, acquit you of your ugly deeds, and forgive you. And God is the possessor of a tremendous bounty. He is saying to the faithful, “If you go by the road of godwariness and take godwariness as your refuge in every state, He will give you a criterion of knowledge and inspiration through which you will separate truth from falsehood, and the straightness of the road from the losing of the road. This is complete knowledge for those of you who are knowers, and sound inspiration for those of you who are recognizers.” The criterion of the knower is the indications of the Shariah and the clear proofs reached by expenditure of effort and the acquisition of servanthood. The criterion of the recognizer is a light from the Unseen and a clear mirror for the divine bestowal and lordly inspiration. In this verse people have spoken of another intimation and beautiful subtlety: He is saying, “O you who have planted the root of the tree of faith! If you nurture it with godwariness, it will give forth three fruits: One is the criterion, as He says: 'He will appoint for you a criterion.' An- other is acquittal: 'acquit you of your ugly deeds.' Third is forgiveness: 'and forgive you.'” The criterion is bestowal of recognition, the acquittal lightening of burdens, the forgiveness bestowal of eminence. The bestowal of recognition is appropriate, the lightening of burdens beautiful, and the bestowal of eminence complete.
الَّذِينَ يُقِيمُونَ الصَّلَاةَ وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنْفِقُونَ
📘 Those who perform the prayer and expend from what We have provided them, it is they who are the faithful in truth. They have degrees with their Lord and forgiveness and a generous provision. In the previous verse, He counted out some of the inward deeds, such as godwariness, fear, and truth. Then, in this verse, He joins them with the outward deeds, such as prayer and alms tax. The former are marks of the Haqiqah, and the latter stipulations of the Shariah. Thus you know that these two are joined together. Without the Shariah the Haqiqah is of no use, and without the Haq- iqah the Shariah is not correct. When the two are combined, then it is they who are the faithful in truth. The faithful in reality are they, for they are sound in both the Shariah and the Haqiqah. They have undertaken the Shariah, so they have degrees in the Garden and forgiveness; and they have truthfulness in the Haqiqah, so they have a generous provision. This is the provision of the secret cores through the unveilings and joinings which belong to them alone. It has also been said that the traits counted out in this verse are the realities of servanthood in the encounters [with God] and the unveilings of the Haqiqah in the finding [of Him]. These are reverence for remembrance, quaking at the time of listening, being overcome by increase at the time of recitation, the reality of trust in God, and undertaking the stipulations of servanthood in full loyalty. When these descriptions are perfected, they become realizers through faith. Hence it is said, “It is they who are the faithful in truth.” In other words, in reality the most beautiful has already gone forth to them from God, so for them it has become blessedness, nearness, and the most beautiful with their Lord.
وَإِذْ قَالُوا اللَّهُمَّ إِنْ كَانَ هَٰذَا هُوَ الْحَقَّ مِنْ عِنْدِكَ فَأَمْطِرْ عَلَيْنَا حِجَارَةً مِنَ السَّمَاءِ أَوِ ائْتِنَا بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ
📘 (And when they said: O Allah! If this be indeed the truth from Thee�) [8:32-33]. The Commentators of the Qur�an said: �This was revealed about al-Nadr ibn al-Harith who said: �[O Allah!] If what Muhammad (s)ays is true, then rain down stones on us� �. Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Ja�far informed us> Muhammad ibn �Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hakam> Muhammad ibn Ya�qub al-Shaybani> Ahmad ibn al-Nadr ibn �Abd al-Wahhab> �Ubayd Allah ibn Mu�adh> his father> Shu�bah> �Abd al-Hamid, the companion of al-Ziyadi who heard Anas ibn Malik saying: �Abu Jahl said: (If this be indeed the truth from Thee, then rain down stones on us or bring on us some painful doom!) and so this was revealed (But Allah would not punish them while thou wast with them)�. This was narrated by Bukhari from Ahmad ibn al-Nadr and by Muslim from �Abd Allah ibn Mu�adh.
وَمَا كَانَ اللَّهُ لِيُعَذِّبَهُمْ وَأَنْتَ فِيهِمْ ۚ وَمَا كَانَ اللَّهُ مُعَذِّبَهُمْ وَهُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ
📘 (And when they said: O Allah! If this be indeed the truth from Thee�) [8:32-33]. The Commentators of the Qur�an said: �This was revealed about al-Nadr ibn al-Harith who said: �[O Allah!] If what Muhammad (s)ays is true, then rain down stones on us� �. Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Ja�far informed us> Muhammad ibn �Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hakam> Muhammad ibn Ya�qub al-Shaybani> Ahmad ibn al-Nadr ibn �Abd al-Wahhab> �Ubayd Allah ibn Mu�adh> his father> Shu�bah> �Abd al-Hamid, the companion of al-Ziyadi who heard Anas ibn Malik saying: �Abu Jahl said: (If this be indeed the truth from Thee, then rain down stones on us or bring on us some painful doom!) and so this was revealed (But Allah would not punish them while thou wast with them)�. This was narrated by Bukhari from Ahmad ibn al-Nadr and by Muslim from �Abd Allah ibn Mu�adh.
وَمَا كَانَ صَلَاتُهُمْ عِنْدَ الْبَيْتِ إِلَّا مُكَاءً وَتَصْدِيَةً ۚ فَذُوقُوا الْعَذَابَ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَكْفُرُونَ
📘 (And their worship at the (holy) House is naught but whistling and hand-clapping�) [8:35]. Abu Isma'il ibn 'Amr al-Naysaburi informed us> Hamzah ibn Shabib al-Ma'mari> 'Ubayd Allah ibn Ibrahim ibn Balawayh> Abu'l-Muthanna Mu'adh ibn al-Muthanna> 'Amr>> his father> Qurrah> 'Atiyyah> Ibn 'Umar who said: �They [people in the pre-Islamic period] used to go round the Ka'bah clapping - and he described how they clapped - and whistling - and he described how they whistled - and they also put their cheeks on the ground. Then this verse was revealed�.
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا يُنْفِقُونَ أَمْوَالَهُمْ لِيَصُدُّوا عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ ۚ فَسَيُنْفِقُونَهَا ثُمَّ تَكُونُ عَلَيْهِمْ حَسْرَةً ثُمَّ يُغْلَبُونَ ۗ وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا إِلَىٰ جَهَنَّمَ يُحْشَرُونَ
📘 (Lo! those who disbelieve spend their wealth in order that they may debar (men) from the way of Allah�) [8:36]. Said Muqatil and al-Kalbi: �This was revealed, on the Day of Badr, about those who customarily fed the pilgrims in the season of Hajj. They were twelve men: Abu Jahl ibn Hisham, 'Utbah and Shaybah the sons of Rabi'ah, Nubayh and Munabbih the sons of Hajjaj, Abu'l-Bukhturi ibn Hisham, al-Nadr ibn al-Harith, Hakim ibn Hizam, Ubayy ibn Khalaf, Zam'ah ibn al-Aswad, al-Harith ibn 'Amir ibn Nawfal, al-'Abbas ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib. All these men were from Quraysh and each one of them gave ten containers of food daily�. Sa'id ibn Jubayr and Ibn Abza said: �This verse was revealed about Abu Sufyan ibn Harb who had hired, on the day of Uhud, two thousand Abyssinian men to fight against the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, without counting those Arabs who answered his call to fight with him. About them, Ka'b ibn Malik says: We came to sea waves in the middle of which Were Abyssinians, some of whom were veiled and some with their heads uncovered. There were three thousand of them whereas we were a group of nobles: three hundred of us or four hundred at most. Al-Hakam ibn 'Utaybah said: �Abu Sufyan spent 40 Uqiyyah of gold on the idolaters at the Battle of Uhud, and so this verse was revealed about him�. Reporting from his sources, Muhammad ibn Ishaq said: �When the Quraysh returned to Mecca after their defeat at Badr and Abu Sufyan returned unharmed with their caravan, a group of men from the Quraysh whose fathers, sons and brothers were killed at this battle, including 'Abd Allah ibn Abi Rabi'ah, 'Ikrimah ibn Abi Jahl, Safwan ibn Umayyah, went to see Abu Sufyan and those who had a share in that caravan and said to them: 'O men of Quraysh, Muhammad has harmed you and killed the best among you, so help us with this property which escaped unscathed that haply we may take revenge on him for what was inflicted on us'. They did and Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse�.
أُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ حَقًّا ۚ لَهُمْ دَرَجَاتٌ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِمْ وَمَغْفِرَةٌ وَرِزْقٌ كَرِيمٌ
📘 Those who perform the prayer and expend from what We have provided them, it is they who are the faithful in truth. They have degrees with their Lord and forgiveness and a generous provision. In the previous verse, He counted out some of the inward deeds, such as godwariness, fear, and truth. Then, in this verse, He joins them with the outward deeds, such as prayer and alms tax. The former are marks of the Haqiqah, and the latter stipulations of the Shariah. Thus you know that these two are joined together. Without the Shariah the Haqiqah is of no use, and without the Haq- iqah the Shariah is not correct. When the two are combined, then it is they who are the faithful in truth. The faithful in reality are they, for they are sound in both the Shariah and the Haqiqah. They have undertaken the Shariah, so they have degrees in the Garden and forgiveness; and they have truthfulness in the Haqiqah, so they have a generous provision. This is the provision of the secret cores through the unveilings and joinings which belong to them alone. It has also been said that the traits counted out in this verse are the realities of servanthood in the encounters [with God] and the unveilings of the Haqiqah in the finding [of Him]. These are reverence for remembrance, quaking at the time of listening, being overcome by increase at the time of recitation, the reality of trust in God, and undertaking the stipulations of servanthood in full loyalty. When these descriptions are perfected, they become realizers through faith. Hence it is said, “It is they who are the faithful in truth.” In other words, in reality the most beautiful has already gone forth to them from God, so for them it has become blessedness, nearness, and the most beautiful with their Lord.
۞ وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّمَا غَنِمْتُمْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ فَأَنَّ لِلَّهِ خُمُسَهُ وَلِلرَّسُولِ وَلِذِي الْقُرْبَىٰ وَالْيَتَامَىٰ وَالْمَسَاكِينِ وَابْنِ السَّبِيلِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ آمَنْتُمْ بِاللَّهِ وَمَا أَنْزَلْنَا عَلَىٰ عَبْدِنَا يَوْمَ الْفُرْقَانِ يَوْمَ الْتَقَى الْجَمْعَانِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ
📘 And know that, whatever booty you take, a fifth is for God, and for His Messenger and for kinsfolk, orphans, the indigent, and the son of the road, if you have faith in God…. Booty is the property of unbelievers that Muslims capture in the time of battle and struggle. It is said that struggle is of two sorts: the outer struggle and the inner struggle. The outer struggle is against the unbelievers with the sword, and the inner struggle is against the soul with severity. Those who struggle with the sword are three men: the wage-earning striver, the forgiven wounded, and the martyred slain. In the same way, the strugglers against the soul are three men: One strives, and he is among the pious; one attacks, and he is among the Pegs; one is released, and he is among the Substitutes. He who struggles against the unbelievers becomes rich by possessing the booty. He who struggles against the soul becomes rich in the heart. When someone is rich in property, the prop- erty is either permitted and a tribulation, or forbidden and a curse. When someone is rich in the heart, his aspiration is greater than this world and his desire greater than the afterworld. MuṣṬafā called struggle against the soul more magnificent and greater. He said: " We have returned from the lesser struggle to the greater struggle. " This is because you can avoid the enemy, but you cannot avoid the soul. When you get along with an enemy, you will be secure from his evil. If you get along with the soul, you will see your own destruction. One of the misfortunes of the soul is what MuṣṬafā said: " God gazes not on your forms or your deeds, but He gazes on your hearts. " He said that He gazes on the heart, but He does not gaze on the soul. It is well known that gazing is the result of love, and not gazing the result of hatred. If the Real did not consider the soul an enemy, He would gaze on it just as He gazes on the heart. This makes it mandatory to consider the soul an enemy. One must conform with the Real and not gaze on the soul with affection and love. In the battlefield of struggle, one must act against it severely with the sword of discipline.
وَلَوْ تَرَىٰ إِذْ يَتَوَفَّى الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا ۙ الْمَلَائِكَةُ يَضْرِبُونَ وُجُوهَهُمْ وَأَدْبَارَهُمْ وَذُوقُوا عَذَابَ الْحَرِيقِ
📘 Wert thou to see when the angels take those who disbelieve, beating their faces and their backs: " Taste the chastisement of the burning! " Death is of four sorts: the death of degradation and the curse, the death of remorse and affliction, the death of the gift and generosity, and the death of honor and contemplation. The death of the curse is the death of the unbelievers, the death of remorse is the death of the disobedient, the death of generosity is the death of the faithful, and the death of contemplation is the death of the prophets. About the death of the curse He says, " Wert thou to see when the angels take those who disbe- lieve. " In another place He says, " Wert thou to see when the wrongdoers are in the throes of death... [6:93]. O master! If only you were to see the unbelievers in the agonies of death and the blows and strikes of the chastising angels, before whose harshness, awesomeness, and fearsomeness heaven and earth tremble-the unbelievers caught amidst smoke, fire, unpleasant smells, and the striking of the angels, their hearts overcome by severance from possessions. If they complain, the pain increases, and if they weep, the call no good news [25:22] comes to them. The dust of unworthiness sits on their face, the fire of severance falls into their spirit, hell is filled with their moaning, and the angels disown them. Beware of the severity of severance! Beware of the wound of separation! " As for the death of remorse, that is the death of the disobedient, who passed their days in heedlessness and fell short in the acts of obedience and worship. Suddenly they fall into the grasp of the angel of death and are caught by death's agonies. On one side they see the angel of mercy, but they are ashamed because they did little good. On the other side they see the angel of chastise- ment, and they fear because they did bad and ugly things. The hapless, disobedient servant stays in the middle, his eyes toward the Unseen to see what will come. Will generosity or degradation come from there? Will he see bounty or justice? Then the angels present his obedience and dis- obedience to him, his obedience being little, his disrespect great.
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ حَسْبُكَ اللَّهُ وَمَنِ اتَّبَعَكَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
📘 (O Prophet! Allah is Sufficient for thee and those who follow thee of the believers) [8:64]. Abu Bakr ibn al-Harith informed us> Abu'l-Shaykh al-Hafiz> Ahmad ibn 'Amr ibn 'Abd al-Khaliq> Safwan ibn al-Mughlis> Ishaq ibn Bishr> Khalaf ibn Khalifah>> Anas ibn Hashim al-Rummani> Sa'id ibn Jubayr> Ibn 'Abbas who said: �First, there were thirty-nine people who had embraced Islam and then 'Umar embraced Islam and they became forty. Gabriel, peace be upon him, brought down the words of Allah, exalted is He: (O Prophet! Allah is Sufficient for thee and those who follow thee of the believers)�.
مَا كَانَ لِنَبِيٍّ أَنْ يَكُونَ لَهُ أَسْرَىٰ حَتَّىٰ يُثْخِنَ فِي الْأَرْضِ ۚ تُرِيدُونَ عَرَضَ الدُّنْيَا وَاللَّهُ يُرِيدُ الْآخِرَةَ ۗ وَاللَّهُ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ
📘 (It is not for any prophet to have captives until he hath made slaughter in the land�) [8:67-69]. Said Mujahid: �It happened that some of that which was revealed from heaven agreed with many of 'Umar's opinions. When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, consulted the Muslims about the prisoners of Badr, they said: 'O Messenger of Allah, they are your cousins, so free them in exchange for a ransom'. 'Umar ibn al-Khattab said: 'No, O Messenger of Allah, you should kill them'. Then this verse was revealed (It is not for any prophet to have captives until he hath made slaughter in the land)�. Said Ibn 'Umar: �The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, consulted Abu Bakr regarding the prisoners of Badr, and the latter said: 'They are your people and clan, let them go!' But when he consulted 'Umar, the latter said: 'Kill them'. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, freed them in exchange for a ransom. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed (It is not for any prophet to have captives until he hath made slaughter in the land) up to his words (Now enjoy what ye have won, as lawful and good�) [8:69]. When the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, met 'Umar, he said to him: 'We almost incurred a misfortune as a result of opposing your view!' � Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn al-Husayn al-Hiri informed us> Hajib ibn Ahmad> Muhammad ibn Hammad> Abu Mu'awiyah> al-A'mash> 'Amr ibn Murrah> Abu 'Ubaydah> 'Abd Allah who said: �When the prisoners were brought on the Day of Badr, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: 'What do you think we should do with these prisoners?' Abu Bakr said: 'O Messenger of Allah, these are your people and kin, spare them and wait that haply Allah, glorious and majestic is He, may relent on them'. 'Umar, on the other hand said: 'They have given you the lie and expelled you, bring them forward and chop their heads off'. 'Abd Allah ibn Rawahah said: 'Look for a valley with abundant wood and burn them there', upon which al-'Abbas commented: 'You have severed your ties of kinship!' The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, did not answer them and then went in.
لَوْلَا كِتَابٌ مِنَ اللَّهِ سَبَقَ لَمَسَّكُمْ فِيمَا أَخَذْتُمْ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ
📘 (It is not for any prophet to have captives until he hath made slaughter in the land�) [8:67-69]. Said Mujahid: �It happened that some of that which was revealed from heaven agreed with many of 'Umar's opinions. When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, consulted the Muslims about the prisoners of Badr, they said: 'O Messenger of Allah, they are your cousins, so free them in exchange for a ransom'. 'Umar ibn al-Khattab said: 'No, O Messenger of Allah, you should kill them'. Then this verse was revealed (It is not for any prophet to have captives until he hath made slaughter in the land)�. Said Ibn 'Umar: �The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, consulted Abu Bakr regarding the prisoners of Badr, and the latter said: 'They are your people and clan, let them go!' But when he consulted 'Umar, the latter said: 'Kill them'. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, freed them in exchange for a ransom. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed (It is not for any prophet to have captives until he hath made slaughter in the land) up to his words (Now enjoy what ye have won, as lawful and good�) [8:69]. When the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, met 'Umar, he said to him: 'We almost incurred a misfortune as a result of opposing your view!' � Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn al-Husayn al-Hiri informed us> Hajib ibn Ahmad> Muhammad ibn Hammad> Abu Mu'awiyah> al-A'mash> 'Amr ibn Murrah> Abu 'Ubaydah> 'Abd Allah who said: �When the prisoners were brought on the Day of Badr, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: 'What do you think we should do with these prisoners?' Abu Bakr said: 'O Messenger of Allah, these are your people and kin, spare them and wait that haply Allah, glorious and majestic is He, may relent on them'. 'Umar, on the other hand said: 'They have given you the lie and expelled you, bring them forward and chop their heads off'. 'Abd Allah ibn Rawahah said: 'Look for a valley with abundant wood and burn them there', upon which al-'Abbas commented: 'You have severed your ties of kinship!' The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, did not answer them and then went in.
فَكُلُوا مِمَّا غَنِمْتُمْ حَلَالًا طَيِّبًا ۚ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ
📘 (It is not for any prophet to have captives until he hath made slaughter in the land�) [8:67-69]. Said Mujahid: �It happened that some of that which was revealed from heaven agreed with many of 'Umar's opinions. When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, consulted the Muslims about the prisoners of Badr, they said: 'O Messenger of Allah, they are your cousins, so free them in exchange for a ransom'. 'Umar ibn al-Khattab said: 'No, O Messenger of Allah, you should kill them'. Then this verse was revealed (It is not for any prophet to have captives until he hath made slaughter in the land)�. Said Ibn 'Umar: �The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, consulted Abu Bakr regarding the prisoners of Badr, and the latter said: 'They are your people and clan, let them go!' But when he consulted 'Umar, the latter said: 'Kill them'. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, freed them in exchange for a ransom. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed (It is not for any prophet to have captives until he hath made slaughter in the land) up to his words (Now enjoy what ye have won, as lawful and good�) [8:69]. When the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, met 'Umar, he said to him: 'We almost incurred a misfortune as a result of opposing your view!' � Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn al-Husayn al-Hiri informed us> Hajib ibn Ahmad> Muhammad ibn Hammad> Abu Mu'awiyah> al-A'mash> 'Amr ibn Murrah> Abu 'Ubaydah> 'Abd Allah who said: �When the prisoners were brought on the Day of Badr, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: 'What do you think we should do with these prisoners?' Abu Bakr said: 'O Messenger of Allah, these are your people and kin, spare them and wait that haply Allah, glorious and majestic is He, may relent on them'. 'Umar, on the other hand said: 'They have given you the lie and expelled you, bring them forward and chop their heads off'. 'Abd Allah ibn Rawahah said: 'Look for a valley with abundant wood and burn them there', upon which al-'Abbas commented: 'You have severed your ties of kinship!' The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, did not answer them and then went in.
وَإِذْ يَعِدُكُمُ اللَّهُ إِحْدَى الطَّائِفَتَيْنِ أَنَّهَا لَكُمْ وَتَوَدُّونَ أَنَّ غَيْرَ ذَاتِ الشَّوْكَةِ تَكُونُ لَكُمْ وَيُرِيدُ اللَّهُ أَنْ يُحِقَّ الْحَقَّ بِكَلِمَاتِهِ وَيَقْطَعَ دَابِرَ الْكَافِرِينَ
📘 And when God promised you one of the two parties would be yours, and you wished that the one not armed would be yours. By way of allusion He is saying, “So long as the servant does not suffer he will not reach the treasure.” The Pir of the Tariqah said, “How should I have known that suffering is the mother of happi- ness and that beneath one disappointment lie a thousand treasures? How should I have known that life is in death and that what is desired by all lies in unreached desires?” Life is the life of the heart, and death the death of the soul. Until you die in yourself, you will not come to life through the Real. “Die, O friend, if you want to live!” [DS 52]. That chevalier said it beautifully: “Passion does not accept living souls, falcons do not hunt dead mice.” [DS 202] O God, when someone's life is You, how can he die? When someone's occupation is You, how can his occupation come to an end? O Found and Findable, nothing other than recognizing You is happiness, and nothing other than finding You is life. He who lives without You is imprisoned like a corpse, and he who finds companionship with You is neither of this world nor of that world.
يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ قُلْ لِمَنْ فِي أَيْدِيكُمْ مِنَ الْأَسْرَىٰ إِنْ يَعْلَمِ اللَّهُ فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ خَيْرًا يُؤْتِكُمْ خَيْرًا مِمَّا أُخِذَ مِنْكُمْ وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ۗ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ
📘 (O Prophet! Say unto those captives who are in your hands�) [8:70]. Said al-Kalbi: �This was revealed about al-�Abbas ibn �Abd al-Muttalib, �Aqil ibn Abi Talib and Nawfal ibn al-Harith. Al-�Abbas was imprisoned at Badr while he had with him twenty Uqiyyah of gold which he had taken with him to Badr to feed the idolaters. He was one of ten men who had taken it upon themselves to feed the entire army of the unbelievers. His turn to finance the army of the unbelievers had not come yet when he fell prisoner, and so it was taken with him, and the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, then took the gold from him. He said: �I spoke with the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, to take the twenty Uqiyyah of gold which he took from me as my ransom. He refused and said: �We will not accept as your ransom something with which you had left to use against us�. The ransom of my nephew �Aqil ibn Abi Talib cost me twenty measures of silver, and so I said to him: �By Allah, you have left me begging Quraysh for the rest of my life�. He said: �And where is the gold you gave to Umm Fadl before you headed toward Badr? You said to her: If anything were to happen to me, this is for you and for �Abd Allah, al-Fadl and Qutham�. I said: Who informed you about this? He replied: Allah informed me about it. I said: I bear witness that you are truthful. I gave her the gold and none but Allah knew about it. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that you are the Messenger of Allah�. Al-�Abbas said: �And Allah gave me much better than he took from me, as He said. I had twenty slaves all of whom were tending abundant riches instead of the twenty Uqiyyah of gold, and I still hope to gain forgiveness from my Lord�
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَهَاجَرُوا وَجَاهَدُوا بِأَمْوَالِهِمْ وَأَنْفُسِهِمْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَالَّذِينَ آوَوْا وَنَصَرُوا أُولَٰئِكَ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءُ بَعْضٍ ۚ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَلَمْ يُهَاجِرُوا مَا لَكُمْ مِنْ وَلَايَتِهِمْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ حَتَّىٰ يُهَاجِرُوا ۚ وَإِنِ اسْتَنْصَرُوكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ فَعَلَيْكُمُ النَّصْرُ إِلَّا عَلَىٰ قَوْمٍ بَيْنَكُمْ وَبَيْنَهُمْ مِيثَاقٌ ۗ وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ
📘 Surely those who have faith, who have emigrated, and struggled with their possessions and their souls in God's path, and those who have given refuge and help, they are friends of one another. O chevalier! The pearl of union with Him is not something that falls into the hand of someone with low aspiration. It is a gem that comes to hand in the box of the self-purification of the purifiers, a jasmine that appears in the gardens of the realities of the passionate. Each of those who dove for this pearl became on his own the sun of desire, the lodging place of the covenant of good fortune, and was accepted by the Divine Presence. Their attribute is what the Exalted Lord says at the end of the surah: They " have faith, who have emigrated, and struggled with their possessions and their souls in God's path, and those who have given refuge and help. " Their decree is this: " They are friends of one another. "
وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَهَاجَرُوا وَجَاهَدُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَالَّذِينَ آوَوْا وَنَصَرُوا أُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ حَقًّا ۚ لَهُمْ مَغْفِرَةٌ وَرِزْقٌ كَرِيمٌ
📘 Those-they are the faithful in truth. Theirs is forgiveness and a generous provision. Their created nature is this: Those-they are the faithful in truth. Their reward is this: Theirs is forgiveness and a generous provision. The generous provision is that the sun of union shines forth from the east. It shines, and all of their hopes become hard cash, their increase becomes infinite, the story of water and clay is concealed, and the beginningless Friend is seen face-to-face. Both eyes and heart see through the Friend. When the light of self-disclosure appears in someone's heart, it's no great wonder that like Moses he finds comfort in the mountain.
إِذْ تَسْتَغِيثُونَ رَبَّكُمْ فَاسْتَجَابَ لَكُمْ أَنِّي مُمِدُّكُمْ بِأَلْفٍ مِنَ الْمَلَائِكَةِ مُرْدِفِينَ
📘 When you sought the aid of your Lord, He responded to you. Seeking aid is of three sorts: One is from the creatures against the Real; it is the mark of being estranged and despairing of response. Another is from the Real against the creatures; it is the road of being a Muslim and the precondition of being a servant. Another is from the Real against the Real; it is the means of approach to friendship, and the response is an add-on. Someone who complains of the Real to the people increases in pain. Someone who complains of the creatures to the Real finds the remedy. Someone who complains of the Real to the Real sees the Real. The Pir of the Tariqah Shiblī was saying the following words with the attribute of bewilder- ment in his encounters with Him: “O God, if I seek You, You drive me away, and if I leave You, You seek me. There is no rest with You, and no escape from You. I seek aid in You from You!” He is saying: “O God, if I want You, You drive me away. If I go, You call. What should I do in this bewilderment? With You I have no rest, and without You my work is disordered-no hope of being cut off, no hope of arrival. Help me against You! For these spirits are all mad for You and these hearts are all bewildered by You.” Perhaps You will put things in order, smooth out my road to You, and give me a remedy for pain with Your balm and beautiful doing. O God, today this burning of mine is mixed with pain. I have no capacity to wait it out, no place to flee. The secret of the recognizer's present moment is a sharp blade-there is no place for repose, no way to avoidance.
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