Appearance
Verses 7–14
These verses refer to the Battle of Badr, which was the first battle in the history of Islam. The context indicates that they were revealed after the Battle of Badr, as will be shown.
وَإِذْ يَعِدُكُمُ اللَّهُ إِحْدَى الطَّائِفَتَيْنِ أَنَّهَا لَكُمْ وَتَوَدُّونَ أَنَّ غَيْرَ ذَاتِ الشَّوْكَةِ تَكُونُ لَكُمْ وَيُرِيدُ اللَّهُ أَنْ يُحِقَّ الْحَقَّ بِكَلِمَاتِهِ وَيَقْطَعَ دَابِرَ الْكَافِرِينَ ٧
(8:7) [Remember] when Allah promised you that one of the two companies would be yours, and you hoped the one without battle-rage would be yours. But Allah willed to verify the truth through His words and sever the root of the unbelievers.
Meaning, “Remember when God promised you [victory over one of the two companies].” This verse declares God’s blessings and favors upon them so that they perceive that God only commands or decrees something when it is right, when it protects their best interests, and when it helps them bring their efforts to fruition. Therefore, they should not disagree amongst themselves or dislike what He has chosen for them. Rather, they should cede their affairs to Him and obey the Messenger.
The two companies (ṭāʾifatayn) refers to the ʿĪr and the Nafīr. The ʿĪr were the Quraysh’s caravan which bore their trade-goods and wealth. It had forty men, including Abū Sufyān ibn Ḥarb. The Nafīr were the Quraysh’s army, and consisted of about one thousand men.
One of the two companies (iḥdā al-ṭāʾifatayn): This is a second object of the verb promised you (yaʿidukum).
[They] would be yours (annahā lakum): Grammatically, this is a restatement of the previous phrase in different words (badal).
You (pl.) hoped (tuwaddūn)…: This is an adverbial clause (ḥāl) contextualizing the previous statement.
Without battle-rage (ghayra dhāt al-shawkah): Meaning, the ʿĪr caravan, which had fewer men and less armament than the Nafīr. Shawkah means “rage” or “vehemence” and is a figure of speech derived from shawk (“thorns”, “spikes”).
But Allah willed to verify the truth through His words (bi-kalimātihi): This is also an adverbial clause.
Verify (yuḥaqqiq al-ḥaqq) means to demonstrate the truth and establish it through a series of effects. His words are His decree to aid His prophets and to grant ascendancy to His true religion. Elsewhere, God says:
And Our word has gone forth with respect to Our servants, the messengers. They shall be the ones who receive divine assistance, and Our hosts shall be victorious. ()
They desire to put out the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah will perfect His light, though the unbelievers may be averse. He it is Who sent His Messenger with the guidance and the true religion, that He may make it overcome the religions, all of them, though the polytheists may be averse. ()
The word kalimātihi (“His words”) in this verse is also sometimes read as kalimatihi (“His word”); this latter reading seems better.
Sever the root (yaqṭaʿa dābir) of the unbelievers: “Severing the root” (qaṭʿ dābir) is a figure of speech meaning to eradicate something in such a way that it can never return and which leaves no trace; it becomes wholly extinct.
The verse means: “Remember when God promised you that one of the two companies would be yours. Regardless of whether it was the ʿĪr or Nafīr caravan, you would have the upper hand, through the help of God. You had hoped it would be the ʿĪr caravan, for you had heard of the strength, valor, and grit of the Nafīr, whereas you were puny and weak. However, God willed otherwise. God willed that you would encounter the Nafīr, so that He could make you victorious over them and manifest His decree, thus rooting out the faithless.”
لِيُحِقَّ الْحَقَّ وَيُبْطِلَ الْبَاطِلَ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْمُجْرِمُونَ ٨
(8:8) To verify the truth (li-yuḥaqqiq al-ḥaqq) and dispel falsehood (wa yubṭil al-bāṭil), although the guilty abhor it.
From the text of the verse, it can be understood that l- in li-yuḥaqiq denotes an endpoint or final goal, and that li-yuḥaqqiq relates back to Allah promised you (yaʿidukum, ). Meaning, this is what God promised: He shall never waver in His promise to manifest the truthfulness of truth and the falsity of falsehood, although the guilty abhor it and do not want that to happen.
Therefore, it is clear that to verify the truth is not merely a repetition of the expression Allah willed to verify the truth through His words, even though it means something similar.
إِذْ تَسْتَغِيثُونَ رَبَّكُمْ فَاسْتَجَابَ لَكُمْ أَنِّي مُمِدُّكُمْ بِأَلْفٍ مِنَ الْمَلَائِكَةِ مُرْدِفِينَ ٩
(8:9) [Remember] when you sought aid (tastaghīthūn) from your Lord, and He answered you: “I will assist you (mumiddukum) with a thousand angels following (murdafīn).”
Tastaghīthūn means to seek aid (ghawth); that is, support and victory (nuṣrah), as in the verse: He sought aid (istighāthahu) against his enemy from the one on his side (). Mumidd takes its conventional meaning of “help”.
Murdafīn comes from the root r-d-f (“follow”; “line up”; “hindquarters”). Irdāf are rear men riding on the same animal; radf means “following”. Al-Rāghib says:
Radf means “following”. A woman’s ridf are her buttocks. Tarāduf means to go in sequence. Rādif means “late” or “delayed”, whereas murdif is used for a rider in front who seats someone behind him.
With this meaning in mind, it is clear that this verse speaks of the same event as this verse in Sūrah Āl-i ʿImrān:
And Allah did certainly assist you at Badr when you were weak; mind Allah then, that you may give thanks. When you said to the believers: “Does it not suffice you that your Lord should assist you with three thousand of the angels sent down?” Truly! If you remain patient and are on your guard, and they come upon you in a headlong manner, your Lord will assist you with five thousand havoc-making angels. And Allah did not make it but as good news for you, and that your hearts might be at ease thereby, and victory is only from Allah, the Mighty, the Wise. ()
When verses and verse are taken together, it can be understood that when verse says that a thousand angels following were sent, it means that one thousand angels were sent following the three thousand angels.
From this, it is clear that the following exegetical views are invalid:
Angels following means a group of one thousand angels with another group of one thousand angels behind it, thereby making contingents of two thousand angels.
It means that some of them were following some others.
It means that they were following the Muslims; murdifīn means rādifīn (“seated behind”).
The Muslims were the ones who followed them, since the angels went to the forefront of the Muslim army and cast terror into the hearts of the faithless.
وَمَا جَعَلَهُ اللَّهُ إِلَّا بُشْرَىٰ وَلِتَطْمَئِنَّ بِهِ قُلُوبُكُمْ ۚ وَمَا النَّصْرُ إِلَّا مِنْ عِنْدِ اللَّهِ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ ١٠
(8:10) He did that (jaʿalahu) only to offer glad tidings and set your hearts at ease (li-taṭmaʾinna bihi qulūbakum), for victory comes only from Allah alone. Allah is Mighty, Wise.
The pronoun “that” (-hu in jaʿalahu and -hi in bihi) refers to God’s sending assistance via the angels; this is what can be inferred from the text. It means that God sent this assistance via the angels for the purpose of giving glad tidings and setting you at ease, not for the purpose of destroying the faithless by their hands. A subsequent verse implies the same:
[Remember] when your Lord revealed to the angels: “I am with you, so make the believers firm. I shall cast terror into the hearts of the faithless. Then strike above their necks and their every fingertip” ().
This verse also reinforces the exegetical view—expressed by some—that the angels were not sent down to fight the idolaters or kill any of them. Rather, ʿAlī vanquished half or a third of the fallen, and the remainder by the other Muslims.
However, the angels increased the bulk of the Muslims when they were intermingled with them, thereby setting their hearts at ease. They also cast terror into the hearts of the idolaters, which will be discussed shortly.
Victory comes only from Allah alone. Allah is Mighty, Wise: This pronounces that victory, in truth, lies in God, regardless of having great numbers, strength, or valor. On that day, the idolators had greater numbers and strength than the Muslims, who were really quite a meager force.
Allah is Mighty, Wise: This principle underlies everything in this verse and the related parts of the previous verses. God aids them through His might and assists them in this way through His wisdom.
إِذْ يُغَشِّيكُمُ النُّعَاسَ أَمَنَةً مِنْهُ وَيُنَزِّلُ عَلَيْكُمْ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً لِيُطَهِّرَكُمْ بِهِ وَيُذْهِبَ عَنْكُمْ رِجْزَ الشَّيْطَانِ وَلِيَرْبِطَ عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِكُمْ وَيُثَبِّتَ بِهِ الْأَقْدَامَ ١١
(8:11) [Remember] when He blanketed you with sleepiness (nuʿās), security (amnatan) from Him, and sent upon you water from the sky to purify you and wash away Satan’s dirt (rijz), and to fortify your hearts and steady your feet.
Nuʿās is the first stage of sleep; it lightly blankets someone. Amnah means amān (“safety”, “security”). From Him means “from God”, although some exegetes say that it means “from the enemy”. Rijz means “dirt”, “impurity”, or “filth”. Here, Satan’s dirt means the filth He might cast into someone’s heart by whispering deceptions to them, filling them with anxiety, and seducing them.
The verse means: It was when sleepiness overtook them that aid and assistance arrived, in the form of glad tidings and certainty in their hearts. This sleepiness was a form of security that God bestowed upon their hearts, whereupon they slept; were they fearful, they would neither have felt sleepy nor slept. Then rain fell upon them to purify them, wash away Satan’s whispers, and make their hearts firm; to fortify your hearts is a figure of speech meaning to make them brave. The rain also fell in order to grant them a firm foothold during the battle by making the sand sticky, or making their hearts staunch.
This verse lends confirmation to what has been narrated—that the idolaters had arrived at the water-source first and camped there upon the sandhills. Then they had fallen into states of major or minor impurity, and were beset by thirst. Satan seized that opportunity to whisper to them: “You enemy has beat you to the water. You are going to pray with nasty bowels and balls while your feet are slipping on the sand?” Then God sent rain upon them so they could cleanse themselves, thereby removing major and minor ritual impurities, and to make the ground sticky for them and muddy for the enemy.
إِذْ يُوحِي رَبُّكَ إِلَى الْمَلَائِكَةِ أَنِّي مَعَكُمْ فَثَبِّتُوا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا ۚ سَأُلْقِي فِي قُلُوبِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا الرُّعْبَ فَاضْرِبُوا فَوْقَ الْأَعْنَاقِ وَاضْرِبُوا مِنْهُمْ كُلَّ بَنَانٍ ١٢
(8:12) [Remember] when your Lord revealed to the angels: “I am with you, so make the believers firm. I shall cast terror into the hearts of the faithless. Then strike above their necks and their every fingertip.”
The grammatical structure of this verse is similar to that of the verses when you sought aid from your Lord () and when He blanketed you with sleepiness (). All these verses are adverbial clauses framed in the time when these things happened. The meaning of the [first two sentences of the] verse is clear.
Then strike above their necks and their every fingertip: The expression above their necks comes across as meaning striking their heads, and their every fingertip comes across as meaning striking their hands and feet, or their fingers, so they cannot bear weapons and use them to attack.
Possibly, then strike is addressed to the angels; this is what comes to mind when encountering the verse. Strike above their necks and their every fingertip either should be understood in its literal, conventional meaning, or else metaphorically, meaning to humiliate them and terrify them so they cannot hold on to their weapons. Then strike could also be addressed to the faithful and be intended to embolden them against the enemy, to make their feet and hearts firm, and to incite them against the idolaters.
ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ شَاقُّوا اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ ۚ وَمَنْ يُشَاقِقِ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ ١٣
(8:13) For they clove off from and tormented (shāqū) Allah and His Messenger. Whoever contravenes Allah and His Messenger—Allah requites mightily!
Shāqū means “to oppose”, “to violate”, or “to infringe”. It comes from the root sh-q-q, meaning “to divide”. One who breaks off inclines towards his own side and against the opposing side. It means that this is the consequence that God afflicted the idolaters with, for they persistently transgressed against God and His messenger; and whoever secedes from God and His Messenger shall face a heavy consequence.
ذَٰلِكُمْ فَذُوقُوهُ وَأَنَّ لِلْكَافِرِينَ عَذَابَ النَّارِ ١٤
(8:14) Taste this. The faithless shall have punishment in the fire.
This is an emphatic address to the faithless. Disgrace has descended upon them, and they now must taste it. Beyond that—they are told—is punishment in the fire.
Examining Narrations
- In Majmaʿ al-Bayān, it is related from Ibn ʿAbbās:
On the day of Badr, when the two sides had lined up for battle, Abū Jahl said, “O God, grant victory to the worthiest side!”
The Muslims also prayed for aid, whereupon angels were sent down, along with the verse: [Remember] when you sought aid from your Lord… ().
Some have related:
When the Prophet saw how many idolaters there were, and how few the Muslims were, he faced the qiblah and implored, “O God! Fulfill Your promise to me! O God! If this tiny band is destroyed, you shall not be worshipped upon the earth.”
He kept on calling out to his Lord with outstretched hands until his robe slipped from his shoulders, and God revealed: [Remember] when you sought aid from your Lord… ().
It is related from ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, al-Saddī, and Abū Ṣāliḥ, as well as Imam al-Bāqir:
When evening fell, God cast drowsiness over the companions. They had halted in a very sandy place, where their feet kept slipping. So God sent a drizzle upon them so that the ground would solidify and their feet would hold firm. However, the Quraysh experienced a downpour. God cast fear into their hearts, as in the verse: I shall cast terror into the hearts of the faithless ().
Author’s comments: The wording of [Remember] when you sought aid from your Lord… () conflicts with the notion that it was revealed on the day of Badr after they pleaded for aid. Rather, it suggests that it was revealed along with They ask you about the spoils of war () and the following verses, and that it is speaking about a past event, reminding the Muslims of God’s blessings—such as aid and other multifaceted blessings—to urge them to obey His commands and prohibitions.
Possibly, when the narration says that the verse was revealed on the day of Badr after they sought aid, this is because it was related to that situation [not because it actually was revealed on the day of Badr]. This often happens in narrations about why Qur’anic verses were revealed.
- In Tafsīr al-Burhān, it is related from Ibn Shahrāshūb:
The Prophet said in al-ʿArīsh: “O God! If you destroy this tiny band today, you shall never be worshipped on the earth everafter.” Then [Remember] when you sought aid from your Lord… () was revealed, and so he went out saying, “Their forces shall be defeated, and they shall flee.” God aided him with five thousand havoc-making angels, who made the Muslims appear greater in number to the idolaters, and the idolaters appear fewer than they actually were to them. Then the verse was revealed: They were on the further side () of the wadi—behind the wide, vast canyon—and the Prophet was on the nearer [or lower] side (), by the well.
Author’s comments: The same thing that was said about the previous narration can be said about this one.
- In Majmaʿ al-Bayān, al-Balkhī relates from al-Ḥasan:
[Remember] when Allah promised you that one of the two companies would be yours () was revealed before [Remember] how your Lord caused you to go forth from your house in truth (), although it is recited after it.
Author’s comments: Just because the first verse discusses something that happened before the second does not mean that it was revealed first; nothing in the text evinces this.
- In Tafsīr al-ʿAyyāshī, it is related from Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā al-Khathʿamī from Imām al-Ṣādiq about the verse [Remember] when Allah promised you that one of the two companies would be yours, and you hoped the one without battle-rage (shawkah) would be yours ():
Shawkah is what arises during combat.
Author’s comments: Something similar has been related by al-Qummī in his exegesis.
- Majmaʿ al-Bayān says:
Biographers, and Abū Ḥamzah and ʿAlī ibn Ibrāhīm in their exegeses, relate with slight variations that Abū Sufyān approached with the caravan of the Quraysh from Syria which was transporting perfumes. The Quraysh had forty riders.
The Prophet called his companions to come out and seize it. He said, “Perhaps God will bring this wealth to your side.”
They complied—some swiftly; others, slowly. They hadn’t thought that the Prophet would encounter an ambush or battle. They had marched out only expecting to meet Abū Sufyān and his caravan, and only had their eyes on the spoils of war.
However, when Abū Sufyān caught wind of the movement of the Prophet, he commissioned Ḍamḍam ibn ʿAmr al-Ghaffārī to go to Mecca and mobilize the Quraysh. He was to tell them that Muḥammad and his companions had intercepted their caravan.
So Ḍamḍam made haste to Mecca. Three nights before he arrived, ʿĀtikah bint ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib had dreamt that a man had come from the caravan, crying out, “O Āl Ghālib! Go forth to your deaths!” Then he rode his camel atop Mount Qubays, seized a boulder, and sent it rolling down the mountain, whereupon it shattered into fragments. The fragments struck the houses of the Quraysh; not a single house was unafflicted.
Terrified, she awoke with a jolt and told al-ʿAbbās about it. Al-ʿAbbās, in turn, told ʿUtbah ibn Rabīʿ, who said, “A calamity will befall the Quraysh.” News of the dream spread among them, and reached Abū Jahl, who said, “She is a second prophet in the house of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib. By Lāt and ʿUzzā, let us wait three days and see if this dream comes true. If it does not, then let us write a declaration that the Arabs have no greater liars, male or female, than Banū Hāshim.”
On the third day, Ḍamḍam arrived, calling out at the top of his voice: “O Āl Ghālib! O Āl Ghālib! The perfumes! The perfumes! The caravan! The caravan! They have reached it—but I do not think you can catch them. Muḥammad and his boys from Yathrib have gone out to intercept your caravan. Prepare to march forth!”
All the chieftains of the Quraysh dipped into their pockets to fund the army, and they swore to destroy the house of anyone who did not march out. Among those who marched forth with them were al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, Nawfal ibn al-Ḥarith ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, and ʿAqīl ibn Abī Tālib. They also brought slaves playing tambourines.
The Messenger of God marched out with three-hundred thirteen men. When they neared Badr, he sent out a scout.
It is related in a narration from Abū Ḥamzah:
The Messenger of God also sent a scout to spy on the caravan. His name was ʿUdayy. Upon return, he told the Messenger of God where the caravan had rested and departed, whereupon Gabriel descended to the Messenger of God and told him that the idolaters in Mecca had taken up arms and were marching forth from Mecca.
He consulted with his companions about whether they should pursue the caravan or fight the army. Abū Bakr stood and said, “O Messenger of God! From the time they rejected [you and your call], the Quraysh’s vainglory has never faltered. Furthermore, from the time they rose to might, they have never weakened. However, we are unprepared for war.”
A narration from Abū Ḥamzah also relates:
Abū Bakr said, “I am familiar with this route and the place where ʿUday left the caravan of the Quraysh. If we both continue following that route, we will encounter each other at the well of Badr on this-and-that day, like two equally matched race-horses rushing to the goal.”
The Prophet said, “Sit.”
Abū Bakr sat.
The Prophet asked ʿUmar for his view. ʿUmar said the same thing as Abū Bakr.
The Prophet said, “Sit.”
ʿUmar sat.
Then the Prophet asked Miqdād for his view. Miqdād said, “O Messenger of God! The Quraysh may be haughty. However, we have faith in you and trust you. We have borne witness that what you have brought is the truth. By God, even if you told us to cast ourselves onto freshly-kindled embers and spiky thorn-bushes, we would do so with you. We will not tell you the same thing that the Children of Israel told Moses: ‘You and your Lord go and fight; we will stay right here.’ Rather, we will say, ‘Fulfill the command of your Lord; we shall fight with you.”
The Prophet thanks him, then said, “Tell me your view, O people.” By this, he had the Anṣār in mind, since they formed the bulk of the group. Furthermore, when they had paid allegiance at ʿAqabah, they had said, “We take no responsibility for your protection until you arrive at our dwellings. Then, once you are among us, we shall shield you like we would shield our own children or women.” Thus, he had been concerned that they would not aid him in fending off enemies outside of the city.
However, Saʿd ibn Maʿadh stood and said, “May my father and mother be sacrificed for you, O Messenger of God! It is as if you had us in mind.”
He said, “Yes.”
He said, “By my father and mother, O Messenger of God! We have believed in you and trusted you and borne witness that you have brought the truth from God. Command us however you will! Take our wealth, however you will, and leave us with whatever you will. By God, were you to command us to jump into this sea, we would do so with you. Mayhaps God—the Mighty and Glorious—will show you something from us that will bring joy to your eyes, and thus God’s blessings might flow through us.”
Gladdened, the Messenger of God said, “Go forth, with the blessings of God, for God—the Mighty and Glorious—has promised me one of the two companies, and God never breaks His promise. By God, it is as if I see the downfall of Abū Jahl ibn Hishām, ʿUtbah ibn Rabīʿ, Shaybah ibn Rabīʿ, and this-person, and that-person.”
God commanded the Messenger of God to move on, and so he moved towards Badr, which was the name of a well.
It is related in a narration from Abū Ḥamzah al-Thumālī:
“Badr” was originally the name of a man from the Juhaynah tribe who owned that well; after that, the well became known as “Badr”.
The Quraysh also headed towards it and sent their slaves forward to draw water from the well. The companions of the Messenger of God captured them and asked, “Who are you?”
They said, “We are the slaves belonging to the Quraysh.”
“So where is the caravan?”
“We know nothing about the caravan,” they replied. At that, the companions came forward to strike them.
This was going on while the Messenger of God was praying. After he finished, he said, “If they had told you the truth, you would have hit them, and if they had lied, you would have left them alone.”
They brought them to him. He said, “Who are you?”
They said, “O Muḥammad, we are slaves belonging to the Quraysh.”
He said, “How many of them are there?”
They said, “We don’t know how many.”
He said, “How many animals do you slaughter every day?”
They said, “Nine to ten.”
The Messenger of God said, “They have nine hundred to a thousand men.” Then he commanded that the slaves be held prisoner.
News of this reached the Quraysh. They grew uneasy and regretted coming this way. ʿUtbah ibn Rabīʿ saw Abū al-Bakhtarī ibn Hishām, and said, “Do you see what they’re doing to us? By God, I have no idea what to do—we came out to protect our caravan, and it has escaped. Now we have come as the aggressors and transgressors. By God, those who aggress never succeed. I would have preferred that all of the wealth of Banī ʿAbd Manāf in the caravan had been lost, and the caravan had not taken this route.”
Abū al-Bakhtarī replied to him, “You are one of the nobles of the Quraysh. Go among the people and make a commitment to pay for the caravan which Muḥammad and his companions have taken in Nakhlah, and also to pay for the blood of Ibn al-Ḥaḍramī, for he is your ally.”
He said, “I will do that. None of us dissents apart from Ibn al-Ḥanẓalah”—meaning Abū al-Jahl—“so go to him and tell him I am going to pay for the caravan and the blood of Ibn al-Ḥādramī since he is my ally, and his blood money is on me.”
Abū al-Bakhtarī said: “So I went to his tent. He told me, ‘ʿUtbah is prejudiced towards Muḥammad, since he is also from Banī ʿAbd Manāf, and his son [Abū Ḥudhayfah] is with Muḥammad; he wants to abandon all this. But by Lāt and ʿUzzā, we will invade Yathrib or take them prisoner and drag them to Mecca, and our exploits shall grow legend among the Arabs.’” And Abū Ḥudhayfah ibn ʿUtbah was with the Messenger of God.
When Abū Sufyān had passed the caravan, he had sent a message to the Quraysh: “God has saved your caravan, so head back, and leave Muḥammad and the Arabs alone, and ward this off rather than being hasty. If you do not return home, then at least send home your songstresses.” The Messenger of God encountered them at Juḥfah, and ʿUtbah wanted to turn back; however, Abū Jahl and the Banū Makhzūm refused, but they sent the songstresses away from Juḥfah.
He also said:
When the companions of the Prophet heard how many of the Quraysh there were, they feared and began to plead for aid, whereupon the verse was revealed: [Remember] when you sought aid from your Lord… ().
Al-Ṭabrisī says:
When morning broke on the Day of Badr, the Messenger of God mobilized his companions. There were two horsemen in his company: Zubayr ibn ʿAwwām and Miqdād ibn al-Aswad. There were also seventy camels which they took turns riding. For instance, the Messenger of God, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, and Marthad ibn Abū Marthad al-Ghanawī would take turns Marthad ibn Abū Marthad’s camel.
The Quraysh had four hundred horsemen, although some sources say they were two hundred. When the Quraysh saw how few companions the Prophet had, Abū Jahl said, “They’re but a morsel. If we sent just our slaves to them, our slaves would capture and shackle them all!”
ʿUtbah ibn Rabīʿ said, “Do you think this could be a trap, or that they have reinforcements on the way?” They dispatched ʿUmayr ibn Wahb al-Jumaḥī, who was a brave horseman, for reconnaissance. He circled about the camp of the Messenger of God on his horse, then came back and said, “They have no ambush and no allies. However, the water-carrier camels of Yathrib are carrying death. Do you see? They are mute, not uttering a word, smacking their tongues like serpents. They have no recourse but their swords. I don’t think they will turn back before they are killed, and they will not be killed before they have killed the same number as themselves. What do you think?”
Abū Jahl replied, “Fear has made you lie, coward.”
Then God revealed the verse: if they incline towards peace, then incline to it… (). The Messenger of God sent them an envoy, who said, “O assembly of Quraysh! I prefer not to initiate aggression towards you. Leave me to the Arabs, and go back the way you came.”
ʿUtbah said, “Anyone who rejected such a proposal would never prosper.” ʿUtbah was riding a red camel; he spurred it on. When the Messenger of God saw him riding around the two camps and discouraging the people from war, he said, “If there is any good in anyone, it is in the red-camel rider. If they obey him, they will be rightly guided.”
Then ʿUtbah addressed the people: “O Quraysh! Obey me today, and defy me for the rest of time. Muḥammad has a blood tie and covenant of protection with you. He is the son of your uncle, so leave him to the Arabs. If he be truthful, he shall bring you more glory, and if he be lying, the wolves of the Arabs will take care of him.”
Infuriated, Abū Jahl retorted, “Coward! This is your fear speaking!”
He replied, “You’re calling me a coward? You’re the one who shit yourself from fear! The Quraysh shall soon know which of us is the true coward –and which one of us is trying to destroy his people.” Then he donned his armor and marched forward, along with his brother Shaybah and his son al-Walīd, then shouted, “O Muḥammad! Send out our equals from the Quraysh!”
Three of the Anṣār came out to meet them. They were related to each other, so they said, “Go back; we want opponents from the Quraysh.”
The Messenger of God looked to ʿUbaydah ibn al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, who, on that day, was seventy years old. He told him, “Rise, ʿUbaydah.” Then he looked to Ḥamzah and said, “Rise, my uncle.” Then he looked to ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib and said, “Rise, ʿAlī.” ʿAlī was the youngest of the group.
After that, he said, “Claim your right which God has given you, for the Quraysh have come haughty and proud, seeking to put out the light of God, but God does not allow His light to be extinguished.”
Then he said, “O ʿUbaydah! Take care of ʿUtbah ibn Rabīʿah.” To Ḥamzah, he assigned Shaybah; to ʿAlī, he assigned al-Walīd.
They marched forth until they reached the people, then declared, “We are noble matches for you!”
ʿUbaydah attacked ʿUtbah and struck him on the head, cleaving it in two. ʿUtbah also struck ʿUbaydah on the leg, and severed it; they both fell.
Shaybah attacked Ḥamzah, and they fought with swords until they became blunt.
The Commander of the Faithful ʿAlī attacked al-Walīd and struck a vein on his shoulder, and pulled out the sword from his armpit. ʿAlī [later] said, “On that day, al-Walīd took his right hand in his left and used it to strike my head, and it felt as if the sky were falling to the earth.”
Then Ḥamzah and Shaybah grew entangled, and the Muslims said, “O ʿAlī, do you see how that dog has the upper hand over your uncle?” So ʿAlī charged towards him. Since Ḥamzah was taller than Shaybah, ʿAlī said, “O uncle, lower your head.” Ḥamzah put his head on Shaybah’s chest, and ʿAlī struck Shaybah, setting his head flying. Then he came to ʿUtbah, who was breathing his last and killed him.
Another narration says:
Ḥamzah went out to fight ʿUtbah, and ʿUbaydah went out to fight Shaybah, and ʿAlī went out to fight al-Walīd. Ḥamzah killed ʿUtbah; ʿUbaydah killed Shaybah; and ʿAlī killed al-Walīd. Then Shaybah struck ʿUbaydah’s leg, severing it, and Ḥamzah and ʿAlī rescued him and carried him to the Messenger of God. Upon seeing him, ʿUbaydah shed tears and asked, “O Messenger of God, won’t I be a martyr?”
He said, “Of course; you will be the first martyr from my family.”
Abū Jahl told the Quraysh, “Don’t be hasty, and don’t be self-concieted like the sons of Rabīʿah. Take on the people of Medina and slaughter them all; but take the Quraysh as captives. Take them alive so we can drag them to Mecca and show them how misguided they were.”
Iblīs then came in the form of Surāqah ibn Mālik ibn Juʿshum and told them, “I am your protector. Give me your banner.” They gave him the banner of the left flank, which had been in the hands of the Banū ʿAbd al-Dār.
When the Messenger of God saw him, he told his companions, “Lower your gaze, and stand firm.” Raising his hand, he said, “O God! If this tiny band is destroyed, you shall not be worshipped.” Then he fell into a momentary trance, sweat dripping down his face, then said, “This is Gabriel. He has come to you with one thousand angels in tow.”
- In al-Amālī, it is related via a chain of narration from Imām Riḍā from his forefathers:
The Messenger of God travelled to Badr in the month of Ramaḍān and conquered Mecca in the month of Ramaḍān.
Author’s comments: Biographers and historians concur. Al-Yaʿqūbī says in his Tarīkh: “The Battle of Badr was on Friday, when thirteen nights remained of the month of Ramadan, eighteen months after the Prophet came to Medina.”
Al-Wāqidī says: “The Messenger of God halted at the wadi of Badr on Friday night, the seventeenth of Ramaḍān, and sent ʿAlī, al-Zubayr, Saʿd ibn Abī Waqāṣ, and Basbas ibn ʿAmr, to scout for water. They found the water-carriers of the Quraysh drawing water, and took some captive while others escaped. Then they brought the captives to the Prophet, who was standing in prayer. So the Muslims interrogated them, and the captives said, “We are the water-carriers of the Quraysh. They sent us to bring water.” The Muslims struck them, whereupon they said, “We belong to Abū Sufyān and are part of the caravan, and the caravan is at that sand dune.” At that, the Muslims stayed their hands from them.
After completing his prayer, the Prophet said, “When told you the truth, you hit them; and when they lied to you, you left them!”
The next morning, the Messenger of God arranged the battle-lines and addressed the Muslims. After praising and glorifying God, he said, “I urge you towards what God urges you, and I forbid you from what God has forbidden. God is enormous in stature. He commands truly and rightly, loves truthfulness and sincerity, and rewards the good for their goodness, according to their stations before Him. Through Him, they are memorialized and distinguished. You have reached the station of truth; none of your acts will be accepted by God unless they are done seeking His countenance. Patience in places of trial is one of the things that evokes God’s succor. Through patience, God shall relieve sorrow and distress, and shall rescue you in the Hereafter. The Prophet of God is among you, so mind that. He commands you, so let shame before God prevent Him from coming to know of anything from that would spark His hatred. For He says: The hatred of Allah is worse than their hatred for each other ().
“Look to what He has commanded you in His book and how He will honor you after being abased. Take peace in that; your Lord shall be pleased with you. Your Lord shall try you in this land with something that shall necessitate that you receive His mercy and forgiveness which He promised you. For His promise is true, His word is true, and His recompense is severe.
“By God—the Living, the Upholding—you and I have taken shelter Him. We have sought refuge in Him, and we have put our trust in Him. To Him is our return. May God forgive me and the Muslims.”
- In Majmaʿ al-Bayān, it is related from a group of exegetes, such as Ibn ʿAbbās, and others:
On the day of Badr, Gabriel said to the Prophet: “Take a fistful of dust and cast it towards them.”
When the two parties met, the Messenger of God told ʿAlī: “Give me a fistful of the pebbles from the wadi.” ʿAlī gave him a handful of dusty pebbles, and the Prophet threw them in the face of his opponents and said, “May their faces be drawn.” The dust and pebbles went into the eyes, mouths, and noses of the idolaters—every single one of them. Then the faithful pursued them, fought them, and took them captive; this handful of dust and pebbles was the secret behind their victory.
- In al-Amālī, it is related that Ibn ʿAbbās said:
The Messenger of God stood over the fallen at Badr and said, “May God requite this group with evil. You took me as a liar although I was speaking the truth, and betrayed my trust.” Then he turned towards Abū Jahl ibn Hishām and said, “This man is worse than the Pharaoh. For when the Pharaoh saw certain death, he declared the oneness of God, but when this man saw certain death, he invoked Lāt and ʿUzzā.”
- In al-Maghāzī, al-Wāqidī says:
On the day of Badr, the Messenger of God ordered that a well be dug and that all the slain bodies of the enemies be cast into it except that of Umayyah ibn Khalaf, since he was quite plump, and, on that day, his body had distended. When they had tried to toss him in, his flesh had begun to separate from his body, and so the Prophet said, “Leave him.” So they left the body and covered it with soil and stones instead.
Then he stood over the inhabitants of the well and called out to them, one by one, “Have you found what Your Lord promised you to be true? I have found what my Lord promised me to be true. How wretched you were to your prophet! You called him a liar while the people believed me, you expelled me while others sheltered me, and you fought me while others aided me.”
They [the companions] said, “O Messenger of God, are you speaking to the dead?”
He said, “They have found that what their Lord has promised them is true.”
Another narration reads:
The Messenger of God said, “You cannot hear what I say better than them, but they cannot respond.”
Al-Wāqidī continues:
The Quraysh were defeated near noon. The Messenger of God stayed overnight at Badr. He ordered ʿAbd Allāh ibn Kaʿb to collect and carry the spoils of war, and he told some of his companions to help with that. Then, after praying the afternoon prayer at Badr, they set off, reaching al-Ithīl before sunset. They made camp there and slept. Some of his companions were wounded, although not too severely. He ordered Dhakwān ibn ʿAbd Qays to guard the Muslims; as night faded, they moved on.
- In a long narration in Tafsīr al-Qummī, it is related:
Abū Jahl emerged from the battle-lines and said, “O God! Muḥammad has cut ties with his kinfolk far more than we have, and he has brought us something we do not recognize. Destroy him in the morning!”
So God revealed to His Messenger: If you demand a victory, victory has come to you. If you desist, it would be better for you. If you return, We shall return, and your forces shall avail you naught, no matter how many they are. And know that Allah is with the faithful (). Then the Messenger of God took a handful of gravel and threw it in the faces of the Quraysh, and said, “May their faces be drawn.” Then God sent a wind striking the faces of the Quraysh; it heralded their defeat.
The Messenger of God said, “O God! Do not let the Pharaoh of this nation”—Abū Jahl ibn Hishām—“escape!” Seventy of the enemy were killed, and seventy were taken prisoner. ʿAmr ibn al-Jumūḥ faced down Abū Jahl and struck him on the thigh. Abū Jahl struck ʿAmr’s hand and slashed through it, leaving it dangling by its skin. ʿAmr stomped on his hand and stood, severing his own hand from his body.
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd says:
I turned to Abū Jahl, who was soaked in his own blood, and said, “Praise be to God who has disgraced you.”
Lifting his head, he said, “The slave, son of a slave-woman, is more wretched. Whom shall fate smile on? Woe betide you!”
“God and His Messenger,” I replied. “I shall kill you.”
As I placed my foot on his neck, he said, “You have ascended a difficult ascent, you little shepherd. The worst thing that could happen to me is being killed by you today. Let one of ʿAbd al-Muṭallib’s clan, or one of your allies, kill me instead.”
I tore off his helmet and slew him, then brought his head to the Messenger of God. “O Messenger of God! Good news—this is the head of Abū Jahl ibn Hishām.” He fell into prostration out of gratitude.
- In al-Irshād by al-Mufīd, it is related:
Then the Commander of the Faithful [Imām ʿAlī] came forward to fight al-ʿĀṣ ibn Saʿīd ibn al-ʿĀṣ after the others had shrunk away from him, and none was left to challenge him. Soon, the Commander of the Faithful had slain him. Next, Ḥanẓalah ibn Abī Sufyān challenged him, and was slain. Next, Ṭuʿaymah ibn ʿAdī challenged him, and was slain. Next, Nawfal ibn Khuwaylid—one of the devils (shayāṭīn) of the Quraysh—challenged him, and was slain. The Commander of the Faithful kept fighting them, one after another, until he had killed half of those who were killed. Seventy men were killed in all: the Muslims at Badr along with the three thousand striking angels had taken care of half of them, and the Commander of the Faithful had taken care of the other half alone.
- It also says in al-Irshād:
Sunni and Shiʿi narrators concur that the names of the idolaters whom the Commander of the Faithful vanquished at Badr are as follows; this is in agreement with what we have previously related:
- Al-Walīd ibn ʿUtbah. As we have already mentioned, he was brave and murderous; men feared him.
- Al-ʿĀṣ ibn Saʿīd. He was a fearsome man whom heroes trembled before. He was the one who had set ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb to flight. His story is well-known, and we shall relate it later.
- Ṭuʿaymah ʿAdī ibn Nawfal, one of the chiefs of the misguided.
- Nawfal ibn Khuwaylid, one of the idolaters who was fiercest in enmity towards the Messenger of God. They Quraysh used to look up to him, honor, and obey him. He was the one who had tied together Abū Bakr and Ṭalhah with a rope in Mecca before the emigration (hijrah) and tortured them day and night to find out about what they were doing. When the Messenger of God knew of his presence at Badr, he beseeched God to handle the matter. “O God, take care of Nawfal ibn Khuwaylid.” Thus the Commander of the Faithful killed him.
- Zamʿah ibn al-Aswad.
- Al-Ḥarith ibn Zamʿah.
- Al-Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith ibn ʿAbd al-Dār.
- ʿUmayr ibn ʿUthmān ibn Kaʿb ibn Taym, the paternal uncle of - Ṭalḥah ibn ʿUbayd Allāh.
- ʿUthmān and Mālik, the sons of ʿUbayd Allāh and the brothers of Ṭalḥah ibn ʿUbayd Allāh
- Masʿūd ibn Abī Umayyah ibn al-Mughīrah.
- Qays ibn al-Fākih ibn al-Mughirah.
- Ḥudhayfah ibn Abī Ḥudhayfah ibn al-Mughīrah.
- Abū Qays ibn al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīrah.
- Ḥanzalah ibn Abī Sufyān.
- ʿAmr ibn Makhzūm.
- Abū Mundhir ibn Abī Rifāʿah.
- Munabbih ibn al-Ḥajjāj al-Sahmī.
- Al-ʿĀs ibn Munabbih.
- ʿAlqamah ibn Kaldah.
- Abū al-ʿĀs ibn Qays ibn ʿAdī.
- Muʿāwiyah ibn al-Mughīrah ibn Abū al-ʿĀṣ
- Lawdhān ibn Rabīʿah
- ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Mundhir ibn Abī Rifāʿah
- Masʿūd ibn Umayyah ibn al-Mughīrah
- Ḥājib ibn al-Sāʾib ibn ʿUwaymir
- Aws ibn al-Mughīrah ibn Lawdhān
- Zayd ibn Mulīṣ
- ʿĀṣim ibn Abī ʿAwf
- Saʿīd ibn Wahb, an ally of the Banū ʿĀmir
- Muʿāwiyah ibn ʿĀmir ibn ʿAbd al-Qays
- ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jamīl ibn Zuhayr ibn al-Ḥārith ibn Asad
- Al-Sāʾib ibn Mālik
- Abū al-Ḥakam ibn al-Akhnas
- Hishām ibn Abī Umayyah ibn al-Mughīrah.
Those are thirty-five men, excluding those whom there is a disagreement about, as well as those whom the Commander of the Faithful slew along with others. They are more than half of the fallen at Badr, as we have mentioned.
Author’s comments: Other authors—such as in Majmaʿ al-Bayān—have said that, on the day of Badr, Imam ʿAlī killed twenty-seven men. Al-Wāqidī says that various narrators and reports agree about nine men whom he killed; there is disagreement about the others.
Probing deeply into the accounts, poetry, and reports of the Battle of Badr and what happened afterwards could make the reader suspect these discrepancies. However, al-Wāqidī relates from Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq that most of the fallen in the Battle of Badr were vanquished by ʿAlī.
Furthermore, al-Wāqidī relates from Ibn Abī al-Ḥadīd that fifty-two of the idolaters fell during the Battle of Badr, and that, of those, twenty-four were vanquished by ʿAlī or by ʿAlī along with others.
Additionally, in al-Irshād and Manāqib, the following poetry is ascribed to Usayd ibn Abi Iyās, goading the idolaters of the Quraysh against ʿAlī:
At every gathering is a purpose confounding you,
A strong youngster who overwhelms experienced full-grown horses.
Your abundance comes from God! Do you not deny it?
Perhaps the noble free man denies it and is shamed.
This is the son of Fāṭimah who has ruined you:
Slaughter and death with a single blow, not slashing about.
They gave him money to defer his blows—
The act of the servile, a transaction yielding no profit.
Where were the mature men? Where were all the chiefs
Amid these misfortunes? Where was the best of the valley (al-abṭaḥ)?
He destroyed them with violent death and blows which he struck
With his sword whose blade did not cease its strikes.
- In al-Irshād, it is narrated from Shuʿbah from Abū Isḥāq that Ḥārith ibn Muḍrib said:
I heard ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib say, “When we were there at Badr, our only horseman was Miqdād ibn al-Aswad. The night before the battle, everyone slept except the Messenger of God, who stood upright at the root of a tree, praying and invoking God until daybreak.”
Author’s comments: The narrations on the story of Badr are very many. We have sufficed ourselves with a few which clarify the meaning of the verses. God willing, further narrations shall be mentioned as part of the investigation into the meanings of the subsequent verses which allude to aspects of this account.
The Names of the Martyrs at Badr (may God be pleased with them)
In Biḥār, it is related from al-Wāqidī:
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Jaʿfar told me, “I asked al-Zuhrī, ‘How many Muslims were martyred at the Battle of Badr?’”
He said, “Fourteen: six of the Muhājirīn, and eight of the Anṣār.”
The narration continues with the following roster of the fallen:
From Banū al-Muṭṭalib ibn ʿAbd Manāf: ʿUbaydah ibn al-Ḥarith. He was killed by ʿUtbah. Another narration from al-Wāqidī says that Shaybah killed him and that the Prophet shrouded him in yellow cloth.
From Banū Zuhrah: ʿUmayr ibn Abī Waqāṣ He was killed by ʿAmr ibn ʿAbd Wadd, the horseman who was at the Battle of Aḥzāb.
ʿUmayr ibn ʿAbd Wadd, Dhū al-Shimālayn, an ally of the Banū Zuhrah. He was killed by Usāmah al-Jashmī.
From Banū ʿAdī: ʿĀqil ibn Abū al-Bakīr, one of their allies from the Banū Saʿd. He was killed by Mālik ibn Zuhayr.
Mihjaʿ, the freed-slave of ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb. He was killed by ʿĀmir ibn al-Ḥaḍramī. It is also said that Mihjaʿ was the first of the Muhājirūn to be martyred.
From Banū al-Ḥārith ibn Fihr: Ṣafwān ibn Bayḍāʾ. He was killed by Ṭuʿaymah ibn ʿAdī.
From the Anṣār, they were:
From Banū ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf: Mubashshir ibn ʿAbd al-Mundhir. He was killed by Abū Thawr.
Saʿd ibn Khaythamah. He was killed by ʿAmr ibn ʿAbd Wadd, although some say that he was killed by Ṭuʿaymah ibn ʿAdī.
From Banū ʿAdī ibn al-Najjār: Ḥārithah ibn Surāqah. He was shot by an arrow by Ḥannān ibn al-ʿIrqah; it struck his throat and killed him.
From Banū Mālik ibn al-Najjār: ʿAwf and Maʿūdh, the sons of ʿAfrāʾ. They were killed by Abū Jahl.
From Banū Salamah: ʿUmayr ibn al-Ḥammām ibn al-Jumūh. He was killed by Khālid ibn al-Aʿlam. Some say that he was the first of the Anṣār to be killed. It is also narrated that the first of the Anṣār to be killed was Ḥārithah ibn Surāqah.
From Banū Zarīq: Rāfiʿ ibn al-Muʿallā. He was killed by ʿIkrimah ibn Abū Jahl.
From Banū al-Ḥārithah ibn al-Khazraj: Yazīd ibn al-Ḥārith. He was killed by Nawfal ibn Muʿāwiyah.
It concludes:
All in all, they were eight of the Anṣār.
It is also related from Ibn ʿAbbās that Anasah, the freed-slave of the Prophet, was killed at Badr.
It is also related that Muʿādh ibn Māʿiṣ was wounded at Badr and died of his wounds in Medina.
It is also related that Ibn ʿUbayd ibn al-Sakan was wounded painfully, then died of his wounds.
Therefore, grammatically, it is in the present tense, even though it refers to something which already happened. [Trans.] ↩︎
And thus, also, grammatically, it is in the present tense, even though referring to past events. [Trans.] ↩︎
It also carries the connotation of “to trouble”, “to burden”, or “to harass”, as reflected in the translation of shāqū as clove off from and tormented. [Trans.] ↩︎
In his early years, ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd is said to have been known as “Ibn Umm ʿAbd” (the son of the mother of the slave) since he was born from slave origins or otherwise low social origins. [Trans.] ↩︎
Some editions of Kitāb al-Irshād list thirty-six men. [Trans.] ↩︎