8 Preface وَيُطعِمونَ الطَّعامَ عَلىٰ حُبِّهِ مِسكينًا وَيَتيمًا وَأَسيرًاYusuf AliAnd they feed, for the love of God, the indigent, the orphan, and the captive,-1The captive: when taken literally, it refers to the old state of things when captives of war had to earn their own food, or their own redemption; even ordinary prisoners in jail for criminal offences often starved unless food was provided for them by private friends or from their own earnings. But there is a further symbolic meaning, which applies to the indigent, the orphans, and the captives, viz. those who are so in a spiritual sense: those have no mental or moral resources, or have no one to look after them, or are held down in social or moral or economic captivity. They hunger for spiritual food, or perhaps their appetite is deadened, but the Righteous understand and supply their real needs. It has also been held that “captives” include dumb animals who are under subjection to man; they must be properly fed, housed, and looked after; and the righteous man does not forget them.