The Qur'an (Oxford World's Classics)

8: 52
Battle Gains 113
41 Know that one-fifth of your battle gains belongs to God and the
Messenger, to close relatives and orphans, to the needy and travellers,
if you believe in God and the revelation We sent down to Our
servant on the day of the decision, the day when the two forces met
in battle. God has power over all things. 42 Remember when you were
on the near side of the valley, and they were on the far side and the
caravan was below you. If you had made an appointment to fight, you
would have failed to keep it [but the battle took place] so that God
might bring about something already ordained, so that those who
were to die might die after seeing a clear proof, and so that those
who were to live might live after seeing a clear proof – God is all
hearing and all seeing.
43 [Prophet], remember when God made you see them in your
sleep as few: if He had shown them to you [believers] as many, you
would certainly have lost heart and argued about it, but God saved
you. He knows the secrets of the heart. 44 When you met He showed
them to you as few, and He made you few in their eyes, so that He
might bring about what has been ordained: everything goes back
to God.
45 Believers, when you meet a force in battle, stand firm and keep
God firmly in mind, so that you may prosper. 46 Obey God and His
Messenger, and do not quarrel with one another, or you may lose
heart and your spirit may desert you. Be steadfast: God is with the
steadfast. 47 Do not be like those who came out of their homes full
of conceit, showing off to people, and barring others from the way of
God – God has full knowledge of all that they do. 48 Satan made their
foul deeds seem fair to them, and said, ‘No one will conquer you
today, for I will be right beside you,’ but when the armies came
within sight of one another he turned on his heels, saying, ‘This is
where I leave you: I see what you do not, and I fear God – God is
severe in His punishment.’
49 The hypocrites and those who have sickness in their hearts said,
‘These people [the believers] must be deluded by their religion,’ but
if anyone puts his trust in God, God is mighty and wise. 50 If only
you [Prophet] could see, when the angels take the souls of the disbelievers,
how they strike their faces and backs: it will be said, ‘Taste
the punishment of the Fire. 51 This is caused by what your own
hands have stored up for you: God is never unjust to His creatures.’
52 They are like Pharaoh’s people and those before them who ignored