The Qur'an (Oxford World's Classics)

a
Ashfaqtum is in the past tense. There is a lapse of time between verses 
12 and 13
during which those who used to plague the Prophet with questions did not come
forward at all, because of having to pay to charity each time. Verse 
13 relaxed this
requirement.
The Dispute
363
58: 14

---

them, and knowingly swear to lies. 
15God has prepared a severe
torment for them: what they do is truly evil. 
16They have used their
oaths to cover up [their false deeds], and barred others from the path
of God. A humiliating torment awaits them –
–
17neither their wealth
nor their children will be of any use to them against God –
– they will
be the inhabitants of Hell, where they will remain. 
18On the Day
God raises them all from the dead, they will swear before Him as
they swear before you now, thinking that it will help them. What liars
they are! 
19Satan has gained control over them and made them forget
God. They are on Satan’s side, and Satan’s side will be the losers:
20those who oppose God and His Messenger will be among the most
humiliated. 
21God has written, ‘I shall most certainly win, I and My
messengers.’ God is powerful and almighty.
22[Prophet], you will not find people who truly believe in God and
the Last Day giving their loyalty to those who oppose God and His
Messenger, even though they may be their fathers, sons, brothers, or
other relations: these are the people in whose hearts God has
inscribed faith, and whom He has strengthened with His spirit. He
will let them enter Gardens graced with 
flowing streams, where they
will stay: God is well pleased with them, and they with Him. They
are on God’s side, and God’s side will be the one to prosper.
The Qur
an
58: 15
364

---

59. THE GATHERING [OF FORCES]
A Medinan sura, the bulk of which is taken to refer to the Jewish clan of
Banu al-Nadir, who originally agreed with the Prophet that they would 
fight
neither for nor against him, yet, after the Meccan defeat of the Muslims in the
Battle of Uhud, made an alliance with the Meccans. They also tried to kill the
Prophet while he was in their area. He asked them to leave and they agreed,
but Ibn Ubayy, the head of the ‘hypocrites’ of Medina, promised them that, if
they fought the Muslims, he and his camp would 
fight with them (verses 11–
13), and, if they had to leave Medina, he and his camp would leave with
them. Because the Banu al-Nadir had repeatedly broken their agreements,
the Muslims besieged them in Medina (in 
ah
4/626
ce
), Ibn Ubayy did not
keep his promise, and the Banu al-Nadir agreed to leave, some going to Syria
and some to Khaybar. In this sura, God stresses that any gains were His doing
and so should be distributed in accordance with His instructions (verses
6–10). The end of the sura, consequently, emphasizes obedience and awe
towards God (verses 
21–4). The sura takes its name from the gathering of
forces in verse 
2.
In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy
1Everything in the heavens and earth glorifies God; He is the
Almighty, the Wise. 
2It was He who drove those of the People of the
Book who broke faith
a
out from their homes at the 
first gathering of
forces –– you [believers] never thought they would go, and they them-
selves thought their forti
fications would protect them against God.
God came up on them from where they least expected and put panic
into their hearts: their homes were destroyed by their own hands,
and the hands of the believers. Learn from this, all of you with
insight!
3If God had not decreed exile for them, He would have
tormented them [even more severely] in this world. In the Hereafter
they will have the torment of the Fire 
4because they set themselves
against God and His Messenger: God is stern in punishment
towards anyone who sets himself against Him.
5Whatever you [believers] may have done to [their] palm trees––
cutting them down or leaving them standing on their roots –– was
a
They were unfaithful to their agreements with the Prophet (see the introduction to
this sura).

---

done by God’s leave, so that He might disgrace those who de
fied Him.
6You [believers] did not have to spur on your horses or your camels for
whatever gains God turned over to His Messenger from them. God
gives authority to His messengers over whoever He will: God has
power over all things. 
7Whatever gains God has turned over to His
Messenger from the inhabitants of the villages belong to God, the
Messenger, kinsfolk, orphans, the needy, the traveller in need –
– this is
so that they do not just circulate among those of you who are rich –
– so
accept whatever the Messenger gives you, and abstain from whatever
he forbids you. Be mindful of God: God is severe in punishment.
8The poor emigrants who were driven from their homes and pos-
sessions, who seek God’s favour and approval, those who help God
and His Messenger –
– these are the ones who are true –
– [shall have a
share].
9Those who were already firmly established in their homes
[in Medina], and 
firmly rooted in faith, show love for those who
migrated to them for refuge and harbour no desire in their hearts for
what has been given to them. They give them preference over them-
selves, even if they too are poor: those who are saved from their own
souls’ greed are truly successful. 
10Those who came after them say,
‘Lord, forgive us our sins and the sins of our brothers who believed
before us, and leave no malice in our hearts towards those who
believe. Lord, You are truly compassionate and merciful.’
11Have you [Prophet] considered the hypocrites who say to their
fellows, the faithless among the People of the Book, ‘If you are
driven out, we shall go with you –
– we would never listen to anyone
who sought to harm you –
– and if you are attacked, we shall certainly
come to your aid’? God bears witness that they are in fact liars: 
12if
they are driven out, they will never leave with them; if they are
attacked, they will never help them. Even if they did come to their
aid, they would soon turn tail and 
flee–– in the end they would have
no help. 
13Fear of you [believers] is more intense in their hearts than
fear of God because they are people devoid of understanding. 
14Even
united they would never 
fight you, except from within fortified
strongholds or behind high walls. There is much hostility between
them: you think they are united but their hearts are divided because
they are people devoid of reason. 
15Like those who went just before
them,