Ali Quli Qarai, The Qur’ān with a Phrase-by-Phrase English Translation (2005)
8. Sūrat al-Anfāl 1
the All-beneficent, the All-merciful.
1 They ask you concerning the anfāl.2
Say, ‘The anfāl belong to Allah and the Apostle.’
So be wary of Allah and settle your differences,
and obey Allah and His Apostle,
should you be faithful.
2 The faithful are only those
whose hearts tremble [with awe] when Allah is mentioned,
and when His signs are recited to them,
they 3 increase their faith,
and who put their trust in their Lord,
3 maintain the prayer
and spend out of what We have provided them.
4 It is they who are truly the faithful.
They shall have ranks near their Lord,
forgiveness and a noble provision.
5 As your Lord brought you out from your home
with a just cause,
a part of the faithful were indeed
reluctant.
6 They disputed with you concerning the truth
1 The sūrah takes its name from the term al-anfāl mentioned in verse 1 (see fn. 2).
2 Or, ‘They ask you for the anfāl,’ according to an alternate reading (yas’alūnaka al-anfāl). In the present Qur’ānic context, the term anfāl refers to the spoils of war.
3 That is, the signs of Allah, when they are recited to the faithful.
