وَإِذْ يَمْكُرُ بِكَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ لِيُثْبِتُوكَ أَوْ يَقْتُلُوكَ أَوْ يُخْرِجُوكَ ۚ وَيَمْكُرُونَ وَيَمْكُرُ ٱللَّهُ ۖ وَٱللَّهُ خَيْرُ ٱلْمَـٰكِرِينَ
Wa iz yamkuru bikal lazeena kafaroo liyusbitooka aw yaqtulooka aw yukhrijook; wa yamkuroona wa yamkurul laahu wallaahu khairul maakireen
A jeśli spiskują przeciwko tobie ci, którzy nie uwierzyli, aby cię pochwycić mocno albo zabić cię lub wypędzić, jeśli zatem oni spiskują, to i Bóg przygotowuje podstęp. A Bóg jest najlepszy w swoim podstępie.
And remember when those who deny plotted against you — to detain you, or kill you, or drive you out. They plot, and God plots, and God is the best of planners.
Surah al-Anfal came down after Badr, and this line takes its first hearers back to a night in Mecca, when the Quraysh council weighed three courses against the Prophet: confinement, killing, or exile. The sira reports that they settled on killing, one young man from each clan striking together so the blood-guilt would be spread too wide to avenge. He left for Medina that night, and eighteen months later the same journey brought him to Badr against the same men.