Ali Quli Qarai, The Qur’ān with a Phrase-by-Phrase English Translation (2005)

And Allah tightens and expands [the means of life],
and to Him you shall be brought back.

246 Have you not regarded the elite of the Israelites
after Moses,
when they said to their prophet,
‘Appoint for us a king,
that we may fight in the way of Allah.’
He said, ‘May it not be that
you will not fight if fighting were prescribed for you?’
They said,
‘Why should we not fight in the way of Allah,
when we have been expelled from our homes
and [separated from] our children?’
So when fighting was prescribed for them,
they turned back except a few of them,
and Allah knows best the wrongdoers.
247 Their prophet said to them,
‘Allah has appointed Saul as king for you.’
They said, ‘How can he have kingship over us,
when we have a greater right to kingship than him,
as he has not been given ample wealth?’
He said, ‘Indeed Allah has chosen him over you,
and enhanced him vastly
in knowledge and physique,
and Allah gives His kingdom
to whomever He wishes,
and Allah is all-bounteous, all-knowing.’
248 Their prophet said to them,
‘Indeed the sign of his kingship shall be