71وَإِن يُريدوا خِيانَتَكَ فَقَد خانُوا اللَّهَ مِن قَبلُ فَأَمكَنَ مِنهُم ۗ وَاللَّهُ عَليمٌ حَكيمٌMuhammad AsadAnd should they but seek to play false with thee1 - well, they were false to God [Himself] ere this: but He gave [the believers] mastery over them.2 And God is all-knowing, wise.I.e., by falsely pretending to a change of heart and an acceptance of Islam in order to be freed from the obligation of paying ransom.Sc., "and He can, if He so wills, do it again". Thus, the Muslims are enjoined, by implication, to accept the declarations of the captives at their face value, and not to be swayed by mere suspicion of their motives. The possibility of treachery on the part of those captives, and even a later discovery that some of them had indeed played false, should not induce the Muslims to deviate from the course ordained by God.