Al-Anfaal 8:42
The Spoils of War · ayah 42 of 75
Ith antum bilAAudwati addunyawahum bilAAudwati alquswa warrakbuasfala minkum walaw tawaAAadtum lakhtalaftum feealmeeAAadi walakin liyaqdiya Allahuamran kana mafAAoolan liyahlika man halaka AAan bayyinatinwayahya man hayya AAan bayyinatin wa-innaAllaha lasameeAAun AAaleem
Saheeh International translation
Other English translations
Abdel Haleem (Oxford)+
"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."
Pickthall (classic)+
"When ye were on the near bank (of the valley) and they were on the yonder bank, and the caravan was below you (on the coast plain). And had ye trysted to meet one another ye surely would have failed to keep the tryst, but (it happened, as it did, without the forethought of either of you) that Allah might conclude a thing that must be done; that he who perished (on that day) might perish by a clear proof (of His Sovereignty) and he who survived might survive by a clear proof (of His Sovereignty). Lo! Allah in truth is Hearer, Knower."
Yusuf Ali (classic)+
"Remember ye were on the hither side of the valley, and they on the farther side, and the caravan on lower ground than ye. Even if ye had made a mutual appointment to meet, ye would certainly have failed in the appointment: But (thus ye met), that Allah might accomplish a matter already enacted; that those who died might die after a clear Sign (had been given), and those who lived might live after a Clear Sign (had been given). And verily Allah is He Who heareth and knoweth (all things)."