ENTITLED, THE VICTORY; REVEALED AT MEDINA.
IN THE NAME OF THE MOST MERCIFUL GOD.
VERILY we have granted thee a manifest victory:i
that GOD may forgive theek thy preceding and thy subsequent sin,l and may
complete his favour on thee, and direct thee in the right way;
g These were the tribes of Koreidha and al Nadir; or those who
distributed provision to the army of the Koreish at Bedr.1
h i.e., In backwardness and aversion to the propagation of the faith.
The people here designed to be put in the place of these lukewarm Moslems are
generally supposed to be the Persians, there being a tradition that Mohammed,
being asked what people they were, at a time when Salmân was sitting by him,
clapped his hand on his thigh, and said, This man and his nation. Others,
however, are of opinion the Ansârs or the angels are intended in this place.2
i This victory, from which the chapter takes its title, according to
the most received interpretation, was the taking of the city of Mecca. The
passage is said to have been revealed on Mohammed's return from the expedition
of al Hodeibiya, and contains a promise or prediction of this signal success,
which happened not till two years after, the preterite tense being therein
used, according to the prophetic style, for the future.3
There are some, notwithstanding, who suppose the advantage here intended
was the pacification of al Hodeibiya, which is here called a victory, because
the Meccans sued for peace, and made a truce there with Mohammed, their
breaking of which occasioned the taking of Mecca. Others think the conquest
of Khaibar, or the victory over the Greeks at Mûta, &c., to be meant in this
place.
k That is to say, that GOD ay give thee an opportunity of deserving
forgiveness by eradicating of idolatry, and exalting his true religion, and
the delivering of the weak from the hands of the ungodly, &c.
l i.e., Whatever thou hast done worthy reprehension; or, thy sins
committed as well in the time of ignorance as since. Some expound the words
more particularly, and say the preceding or former fault was his lying with
his handmaid Mary,1 contrary to his oath; and the latter, his marrying of
Zeinab,2 the wife of Zeîd his adopted son.3
1 Al Beidâwi. See cap. 8, p. 129, note y. 2 Idem.
3 Al Zamakh., al Beidâwi, &c.
1 See cap. 66, and the notes thereon. 2 See cap. 33, and the notes
thereon. 3 Al Zamakh.
and that GOD may assist thee with a glorious assistance.
It is he who sendeth down secure tranquility into the hearts of the true
believers, that they may increase in faith, beyond their former faith; (the
hosts of heaven and earth are GOD'S; and GOD is knowing and wise)
that he may lead the true believers of both sexes into gardens beneath
which rivers flow, to dwell therein forever; and may expiate their evil deeds
from them: (this will be great felicity with GOD):
and that he may punish the hypocritical men, and the hypocritical women,
and the idolaters, and the idolatresses, who conceive an ill opinion of GOD.
They shall experience a turn of evil fortune: and GOD shall be angry with
them, and shall curse them, and hath prepared hell for them; and ill journey
shall it be thither!
Unto GOD belong the hosts of heaven and earth; and GOD is mighty and
wise.
Verily we have sent thee to be a witness, and a bearer of good tidings,
and a denouncer of threats;
that ye may believe in GOD, and his apostle; and may assist him, and
revere him, and praise him morning and evening.
10 Verily they who swear fealtym unto thee, swear fealty unto GOD: the hand
of GOD is over their hands.n Whoever shall violate his oath, will violate the
same to the hurt only of his own soul: but whoever shall perform that which he
hath covenanted with GOD, he will surely give him a great reward.
The Arabs of the desert who were left behindo will say unto thee, Our
substance and our families employed us, so that we went not forth with thee to
war; wherefore, ask pardon for us. They speak that with their tongues, which
is not in their hearts. Answer, Who shall be able to obtain for you anything
from GOD to the contrary, if he is pleased to afflict you, or is pleased to be
gracious unto you? Yea, verily, GOD is well acquainted with that which ye do.
Truly ye imagined that the apostle and the true believers would never
return to their families: and this was prepared in your hearts: but ye
imagined an evil imagination; and ye are a corrupt people.
Whoso believeth not in GOD and his apostle, verily we have prepared
burning fire for the unbelievers.
Unto GOD belongeth the kingdom of heaven and earth: he forgiveth whom he
pleaseth: and he punisheth whom he pleaseth: and GOD is inclined to forgive,
and merciful.
Those who were left behind will say, when ye go forth to take the spoil,p
Suffer us to follow you. They seek to change the word of GOD.q Say, Ye shall
by no means follow us: thus hath GOD said heretofore. They will reply, Nay:
ye envy us a share of the booty. But they are men of small understanding.
m The original word signifies publicly to acknowledge or inaugurate a
prince, by swearing fidelity and obedience to him.
n That is, he beholdeth from above, and is witness to the solemnity of
your giving your faith to his apostle, and will reward you for it.4 The
expression alludes to the manner of their plighting their faith on these
occasions.
o These were the tribes of Aslam, Joheinah, Mozeinah, and Ghifâr, who,
being summoned to attend Mohammed in the expedition of al Hodeibiya, stayed
behind, and excused themselves by saying their families must suffer in their
absence, and would be robbed of the little they had (for these tribes were of
the poorer Arabs); whereas in reality they wanted firmness in the faith, and
courage to face the Koreish.5
p viz., In the expedition of Khaibar. The prophet returned from al
Hodeibiya in Dhu'lhajja, in the sixth year of the Hejra, and stayed at Medina
the remainder of that month and the beginning of Moharram, and then set
forward against the Jews of Khaibar, with those only who had attended him to
Hodeibiya; and having made himself master of the place, and all the castles
and strongholds in that territory,1 took spoils to a great value, which he
divided among them who were present at that expedition, and none else.2
q Which was his promise to those who attended the prophet to al
Hodeibiya, that he would make them amends for their missing of the plunder of
Mecca at that time by giving them that of Khaibar in lieu thereof. Some think
the word here intended, to be that passage in the ninth chapter,3 Ye shall not
go forth with me for the future, &c., which yet was plainly revealed long
after the taking of Khaibar, on occasion of the expedition of Tabûc.4
4 Jallalo'ddin. 5 Idem, al Beidâwi.
Say unto the Arabs of the desert who were left behind, Ye shall be called
forth against a mighty and a warlike nation;r ye shall fight against them, or
they shall profess Islâm. If ye obey, GOD will give you a glorious reward:
but if ye turn back, as ye turned back heretofore, he will chastise you with a
grievous chastisement.
It shall be no crime in the blind, neither shall it be a crime in the
lame, neither shall it be a crime in the sick, if they go not forth to war:
and whoso shall obey GOD and his apostle, he shall lead them into gardens
beneath which rivers flow; but whoso shall turn back, he will chastise him
with a grievous chastisement.
Now GOD was well pleased with the true believers, when they sware
fidelity to thee under the tree;s and he knew that which was in their hearts;
wherefore he sent down on them tranquility of mind,t and rewarded them with a
speedy victory,u
and many spoils which they took: for GOD is mighty and wise.
20 GOD promised you many spoils which ye should take; but he have you these
by way of earnest; and he restrained the hands of men from you:x that the same
may be a sign unto the true believers; and that he may guide you into the
right way.
And he also promiseth you other spoils, which ye have not yet been able
to take: but now hath GOD encompassed them for you; and GOD is almighty.
If the unbelieving Meccans had fought against you, verily they had turned
their backs; and they would not have found a patron or protector:
according to the ordinance of GOD, which hath been put in execution
heretofore against opposers of the prophets; for thou shalt not find any
change in the ordinance of GOD.
It was he who restrained their hands from you, and your hands from them,
in the valley of Mecca; after that he had given you the victory over them:y
and GOD saw that which ye did.
r These were Banu Honeifa, who inhabited al Yamâma, and were the
followers of Moseilama, Mohammed's competitor; or any other of those tribes
which apostatized from Mohammedism,5 or, as others rather suppose, the
Persians or the Greeks.6
s Mohammed, when at al Hodeibiya, sent Jawwâs Ebn Omeyya the Khozaïte,
to acquaint the Meccans that he was come with a peaceable intention to visit
the temple; but they, on some jealousy conceived, refusing to admit him, the
prophet sent Othman Ebn Affân, whom they imprisoned, and a report ran that he
was slain: whereupon Mohammed called his men about him, and they took an oath
to be faithful to him, even to death; during which ceremony he sat under a
tree, supposed by some to have been an Egyptian thorn, and by others a kind of
lote-tree.7
t The original word is Sakînat, of which notice has been taken
elsewhere.8
u Namely, the success at Khaibar; or, as some rather imagine, the
taking of Mecca, &c.
x i.e., The hands of those of Khaibar, or of their successors of the
tribes of Asad and Ghatfân, or of the inhabitants of Mecca, by the
pacification of al Hodeibiya.1
y Jallalo'ddin says that fourscore of the infidels came privately to
Mohammed's camp at al Hodeibiya, with an intent to surprise some of his men,
but were taken and brought before the prophet, who pardoned them and ordered
them to be set at liberty; and this generous action was the occasion of the
truce struck up by the Koreish with Mohammed; for thereupon they sent Sohail
Ebn Amru and some others (and not Arwa Ebn Masúd, as is said by mistake in
another place,2 for his errand was an actual defiance) to treat for peace.
Al Beidâwi explains the passage by another story, telling us that Acrema
Ebn Abi Jahl marching from Mecca at the head of five hundred men to al
Hodeibiya, Mohammed sent against him Khâled Ebn al Walîd with a detachment,
who drove the infidels back to the innermost part of Mecca (as the word here
translated valley properly signifies), and then left them, out of respect to
the place.
1 Vide Abulf. Vit. Moh. p. 87, &c. 2 Al Beidâwi. 3
Page 144.
4 Al Beidâwi. 5 Idem. 6 Jallalo'ddin. 7 Idem, al
Beidâwi. Vide Abulf. Vit. Moh. p. 86.
8 In not. ad cap. 2, p. 27. 1 Al Beidâwi. 2 Prelim. Disc.
Sect. II. p. 41.
These are they who believed not, and hindered you from visiting the holy
temple, and also hindered the offering being detained, that it should not
arrive at the place where it ought to be sacrificed.z Had it not been that ye
might have trampled on divers true believers, both men and women, whom ye know
not, being promiscuously assembled with the infidels, and that a crime might
therefore have lighted on you on their account, without your knowledge, he had
not restrained your hands from them: but this was done, that GOD might lead
whom he pleased into his mercy. If they had been distinguished from one
another, we had surely chastised such of them as believed not, with a severe
chastisement.
When the unbelievers had put in their hearts an affected preciseness, the
preciseness of ignorance, and GOD sent down his tranquility on his apostle and
on the true believers;a and firmly fixed in them the word of piety,b and they
were the most worthy of the same, and the most deserving thereof: for GOD
knoweth all things.
Now hath GOD in truth verified unto his apostle the vision,c wherein he
said, Ye shall surely enter the holy temple of Mecca, if GOD please, in full
security; having your heads shaved, and your hair cut:d ye shall not fear: for
God knoweth that which ye know not; and he hath appointed you, besides this, a
speedy victory.e
z Mohammed's intent, in the expedition of al Hodeibiya, being only to
visit the temple of Mecca in a peaceable manner, and to offer a sacrifice in
the valley of Mina, according to the established rites, he carried beasts with
him for that purpose; but was not permitted by the Koreish either to enter the
temple or to go to Mina.
a This passage was occasioned by the stiffness of Sohail and his
companions in wording the treaty concluded with Mohammed; for when the prophet
ordered Ali to begin with the form, In the name of the most merciful GOD, they
objected to it, and insisted that he should begin with this: In thy name, O
GOD; which Mohammed submitted to, and proceeded to dictate, These are the
conditions on which Mohammed, the apostle of GOD, has made peace with those of
Mecca; to this Sohail again objected, saying, If we had acknowledged thee to
be the apostle of GOD, we had not given thee any opposition; whereupon
Mohammed ordered Ali to write as Sohail desired, These are the conditions
which Mohammed, the son of Abdallah, &c. But the Moslems were so disgusted
thereat, that they were on the point of breaking off the treaty, and had
fallen on the Meccans, had not GOD appeased and calmed their minds, as it
follows in the text.3
The terms of this pacification were that there should be a truce for ten
years; that any person might enter into league either with Mohammed or with
the Koreish, as he should think fit; and that Mohammed should have the liberty
to visit the temple of Mecca the next year for three days.4
b i.e., The Mohammedan profession of faith; or the Bismillah, and the
words, Mohammed, the apostle of GOD, which were rejected by the infidels.
c Or dream which Mohammed had at Medina before he set out for al
Hodeibiya; wherein he dreamed that he and his companions entered Mecca in
security, with their heads shaven and their hair cut. This dream being
imparted by the prophet to his followers, occasioned a great deal of joy among
them, and they supposed it would be fulfilled that same year; but when they
saw the truce concluded, which frustrated their expectation for that time,
they were deeply concerned; whereupon this passage was revealed for their
consolation, confirming the vision, which was not to be fulfilled till the
year after, when Mohammed performed the visitation distinguished by the
addition of al Kadâ, or completion, because he then completed the visitation
of the former year, when the Koreish not permitting him to enter Mecca, he was
obliged to kill his victims, and to shave himself at al Hodeibiya.5
d i.e., Some being shaved, and others having only their hair cut.
e viz., The taking of Khaibar.
3 Al Beidâwi. Vide Abulf. Vit. Moh. p. 87. 4 Idem.
5 Al Beidâwi, Jallalo'ddin. Vide Abulf. Vit. Moh. p. 84, 87.
It is he who hath sent his apostle with the direction, and the religion
of truth; that he may exalt the same above every religion: and GOD is a
sufficient witness hereof.
Mohammed is the apostle of GOD: and those who are with him are fierce
against the unbelievers, but compassionate towards one another. Thou mayest
see them bowing down, prostrate, seeking a recompense from GOD, and his good-
will. Their signs are in their faces, being marks of frequent prostration.
This is their description in the pentateuch, and their description in the
gospel: they are as seed which putteth forth its stalk and strengtheneth it,
and swelleth in the ear, and riseth upon its stem; giving delight unto the
sower. Such are the Moslems described to be: that the infidels may swell with
indignation at them. GOD hath promised unto such of them as believe, and do
good works, pardon and a great reward.
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