Surah Al-Anfaal · Ayah 38·Madanī

38

لِّلَّذِينَ إِن لَهُم مَّا قَدْ وَإِن فَقَدْ ﴿٣٨﴾

Translation

Saheeh International

Say to those who have disbelieved [that] if they cease, what has previously occurred will be forgiven for them. But if they return [to hostility] - then the precedent of the former [rebellious] peoples has already taken place.

Compare all 34 translations →

Tafsīr

No commentary indexed for this ayah yet.

Verse DNA · this āyah at a glance

Vocabulary and recitation are counted from the morphology and the Uthmani marks; commentary reports whether an authored tafsīr entry reaches this āyah. A structural read, not a judgement — a denser strip is not a weightier verse.

Vocabulary · 9 roots in 9 of 16 words

Rarest here: م-ض-ي — 5× in the Qurʾān

Recitation · 17 points across 7 rule families

  • Madd ṭabīʿī7
  • Heavy rāʾ1
  • Idghām (with ghunnah)3
  • Idghām shafawī1
  • Ghunnah2
  • Qalqalah2
  • Lām qamariyyah1

Commentary

No tafsīr entry reaches this āyah yet — the interpretive layer covers a pilot, not the whole Book.

Shape

16 words · 59 letters · āyah 38 of 75

once in the Qurʾān2–10×11–50×51–300×300+×

Similar verses by meaning

Ranked by semantic similarity over translation embeddings — a model’s proxy for meaning, not a claim about it, and not tafsīr. Verses may be kin in theme while differing entirely in wording.

  • Quran 18:55 · Al-Kahfvery close

    وَمَا مَنَعَ ٱلنَّاسَ أَن يُؤْمِنُوٓا۟ إِذْ جَآءَهُمُ ٱلْهُدَىٰ وَيَسْتَغْفِرُوا۟ رَبَّهُمْ إِلَّآ أَن تَأْتِيَهُمْ سُنَّةُ ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ أَوْ يَأْتِيَهُمُ ٱلْعَذَابُ قُبُلًا

    And nothing has prevented the people from believing when guidance came to them and from asking forgiveness of their Lord except that there [must] befall them the [accustomed]…

  • Quran 34:31 · Sabaclose

    وَقَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ لَن نُّؤْمِنَ بِهَٰذَا ٱلْقُرْءَانِ وَلَا بِٱلَّذِى بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ وَلَوْ تَرَىٰٓ إِذِ ٱلظَّٰلِمُونَ مَوْقُوفُونَ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ يَرْجِعُ بَعْضُهُمْ إِلَىٰ بَعْضٍ ٱلْقَوْلَ يَقُولُ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱسْتُضْعِفُوا۟ لِلَّذِينَ ٱسْتَكْبَرُوا۟ لَوْلَآ أَنتُمْ لَكُنَّا مُؤْمِنِينَ

    And those who disbelieve say, "We will never believe in this Qur'an nor in that before it." But if you could see when the wrongdoers are made to stand before their Lord, refuting…

  • Quran 9:66 · At-Tawbaclose

    لَا تَعْتَذِرُوا۟ قَدْ كَفَرْتُم بَعْدَ إِيمَٰنِكُمْ إِن نَّعْفُ عَن طَآئِفَةٍ مِّنكُمْ نُعَذِّبْ طَآئِفَةًۢ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَانُوا۟ مُجْرِمِينَ

    Make no excuse; you have disbelieved after your belief. If We pardon one faction of you - We will punish another faction because they were criminals.

  • Quran 30:16 · Ar-Roomclose

    وَأَمَّا ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ وَكَذَّبُوا۟ بِـَٔايَٰتِنَا وَلِقَآئِ ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ فَأُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ فِى ٱلْعَذَابِ مُحْضَرُونَ

    But as for those who disbelieved and denied Our verses and the meeting of the Hereafter, those will be brought into the punishment [to remain].

  • Quran 26:138 · Ash-Shu'araaclose

    وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمُعَذَّبِينَ

    And we are not to be punished."

  • Quran 51:54 · Adh-Dhaariyatclose

    فَتَوَلَّ عَنْهُمْ فَمَآ أَنتَ بِمَلُومٍ

    So leave them, [O Muhammad], for you are not to be blamed.

Verses built from the same roots

Ranked by shared vocabulary (idf-cosine over each verse’s root-set). Shared words are a fact about form — they do not by themselves mean two verses are about the same thing.

  • Al-Hijr 15:132 shared roots

    لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِهِۦ وَقَدْ خَلَتْ سُنَّةُ ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ

    س-ن-نأ-و-ل

  • Az-Zukhruf 43:82 shared roots

    فَأَهْلَكْنَآ أَشَدَّ مِنْهُم بَطْشًا وَمَضَىٰ مَثَلُ ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ

    م-ض-يأ-و-ل

  • Al-Baqara 2:1922 shared roots

    فَإِنِ ٱنتَهَوْا۟ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ

    ن-ه-يغ-ف-ر

  • Al-Kahf 18:553 shared roots

    وَمَا مَنَعَ ٱلنَّاسَ أَن يُؤْمِنُوٓا۟ إِذْ جَآءَهُمُ ٱلْهُدَىٰ وَيَسْتَغْفِرُوا۟ رَبَّهُمْ إِلَّآ أَن تَأْتِيَهُمْ سُنَّةُ ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ أَوْ يَأْتِيَهُمُ ٱلْعَذَابُ قُبُلًا

    س-ن-نأ-و-لغ-ف-ر

  • An-Najm 53:502 shared roots

    وَأَنَّهُۥٓ أَهْلَكَ عَادًا ٱلْأُولَىٰ

    ع-و-دأ-و-ل

  • Al-Hijr 15:702 shared roots

    قَالُوٓا۟ أَوَلَمْ نَنْهَكَ عَنِ ٱلْعَٰلَمِينَ

    ن-ه-يق-و-ل

Questions

Which verses are similar to Quran 8:38?

Verses close in meaning to Quran 8:38 include Quran 18:55 (Surah Al-Kahf), Quran 34:31 (Surah Saba), Quran 9:66 (Surah At-Tawba), and Quran 30:16 (Surah Ar-Room). For example, 18:55 reads: “And nothing has prevented the people from believing when guidance came to them and from asking forgiveness of their Lord except that there [must] befall them the [accustomed]…” These are ranked by comparing translations of every verse in the Qurʾān, so they are a measure of similar wording and theme — not a tafsīr ruling.

What does Quran 8:38 say?

In Saheeh International, Quran 8:38 (Surah Al-Anfaal, The Spoils of War) reads: “Say to those who have disbelieved [that] if they cease, what has previously occurred will be forgiven for them. But if they return [to hostility] - then the precedent of the former [rebellious] peoples has already taken place.”

Which surah is verse 8:38 in?

Quran 8:38 is āyah 38 of Surah Al-Anfaal (The Spoils of War), chapter 8 of the Qurʾān — a Medinan (Madanī) surah of 75 verses.

In how many languages can I read Quran 8:38?

Tartīl presents Quran 8:38 in the original Arabic alongside 34 translations, with audio recitation.