Had this not been decreed by God in advance, you would have suffered a grievous punishment for what you took (as booty).
Had Allah not pre-destined a matter then, O Muslims, a terrible punishment would have come upon you due to the ransom you took from the disbelievers.
Had it not been for a prior prescription from God, there had afflicted you, for what you took, a mighty chastisement.
Had it not been for a decree from God that had already gone forth, there would indeed have befallen you a tremendous chastisement on account of all [the captives] that you took.
Were it not that a writ had already gone forth from Allah, there would surely have touched you a mighty torment for that which ye took
Were it not a previous ordainment from Allah, a severe torment would have touched you for what you took.
Were it not for a predetermined decree from God, an awful punishment would have afflicted you for what you have taken.
Had there not been a previous decree from Allah, a stern punishment would have afflicted you for what you have taken.
Were it not a previous ordainment from Allah, a severe torment would have touched you for what you took.
Had it not been for an ordinance of Allah which had gone before, an awful doom had come upon you on account of what ye took.
Had it not been for a prior decree of Allah, surely there would have befallen you a great punishment for what you took.
Had there not been a previous writing from Allah, you would have been afflicted by a mighty punishment.
If not for a decree from Allah that preceded, you would have been touched for what you took by a great punishment.
(Had you taken captives) before being allowed by God's revelations, a great torment would have struck you for what you had done.
Were it not for an ordinance from Allah that had already gone forth, surely there would have befallen you a great chastisement for what you had taken to.
Lawl<u>a</u> kit<u>a</u>bun mina All<u>a</u>hi sabaqa lamassakum feem<u>a</u> akha<u>th</u>tum AAa<u>tha</u>bun AAa<i><u>th</u></i>eem<b>un</b>
Had it not been for a writ from God that had already gone forth, you would have been severely punished on account of what you took.
Had it not been for a previous ordainment from Allah, a severe penalty would have reached you for the (ransom) that ye took.
لَّوْلَا كِتَٰبٌ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ سَبَقَ لَمَسَّكُمْ فِيمَآ أَخَذْتُمْ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ
Were it not for a decree from Allah – in which it had already been decided that He would make the gains of war lawful for you and permit you to ransom captives – a severe punishment from Allah would have afflicted you because of the gains of war and ransom you took from the captives at Badr before the coming of revelation from Allah that permitted it.
Were it not for a decree from Allah – in which it had already been decided that He would make the gains of war lawful for you and permit you to ransom captives – a severe punishment from Allah would have afflicted you because of the gains of war and ransom you took from the captives at Badr before the coming of revelation from Allah that permitted it.
<p>The second verse (68) is also a supplement to this admonition where it has been said that had it not been for a Divine writ already established, the course of action which you opted for - that of releasing the prisoners against ransom - would have brought upon you some grave punishment.</p><p>What is this writ and what does it mean? According to a narration from Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ reported in Tirmidhi, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said: Spoils were not lawful for any community before you. When, on the occasion of Badr, Muslims went after collecting spoils - though, spoils were not made lawful for them until that time - this verse was revealed. It emphasized that this initiative taken by Muslims, before the injunction making spoils lawful for them was revealed, was a sin which deserved instant punishment. But, since the writ of Allah that spoils shall be made lawful for this community was already there in the Preserved Tablet, therefore, punishment was not sent over Muslims for this misconduct. (Mazhari)</p><p>It appears in Hadith narrations that, subsequent to the revelation of this verse, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said: The Divine punishment was almost about to descend when Allah, in His grace, held it back and had this punishment come, no one except ` Umar ibn al-Khattab and Sa'd ibn Mu` adh ؓ would have remained safe from it. This tells us that the cause of Divine admonition was the act of releasing prisoners against ransom - and, in the light of the narration from Tirmidhi mentioned earlier, the reason seems to be the act of collecting spoils. But, there appears to be no contradiction between the two. Taking ransom from prisoners is also nothing but a part of spoils.</p>
The second verse (68) is also a supplement to this admonition where it has been said that had it not been for a Divine writ already established, the course of action which you opted for - that of releasing the prisoners against ransom - would have brought upon you some grave punishment.What is this writ and what does it mean? According to a narration from Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ reported in Tirmidhi, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said: Spoils were not lawful for any community before you. When, on the occasion of Badr, Muslims went after collecting spoils - though, spoils were not made lawful for them until that time - this verse was revealed. It emphasized that this initiative taken by Muslims, before the injunction making spoils lawful for them was revealed, was a sin which deserved instant punishment. But, since the writ of Allah that spoils shall be made lawful for this community was already there in the Preserved Tablet, therefore, punishment was not sent over Muslims for this misconduct. (Mazhari)It appears in Hadith narrations that, subsequent to the revelation of this verse, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said: The Divine punishment was almost about to descend when Allah, in His grace, held it back and had this punishment come, no one except ` Umar ibn al-Khattab and Sa'd ibn Mu` adh ؓ would have remained safe from it. This tells us that the cause of Divine admonition was the act of releasing prisoners against ransom - and, in the light of the narration from Tirmidhi mentioned earlier, the reason seems to be the act of collecting spoils. But, there appears to be no contradiction between the two. Taking ransom from prisoners is also nothing but a part of spoils.