Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:250
And when they went forth to [face] Goliath and his soldiers, they said, "Our Lord, pour upon us patience and plant firmly our feet and give us victory over the disbelieving people."
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The discourse on the explanation of His statement, the Exalted: وَلَمَّا بَرَزُوا لِجَالُوتَ وَجُنُودِهِ قَالُوا رَبَّنَا أَفْرِغْ عَلَيْنَا صَبْرًا وَثَبِّتْ أَقْدَامَنَا وَانْصُرْنَا عَلَى الْقَوْمِ الْكَافِرِينَ (250)
(And when they marched out against Jālūt [Goliath] and his armies, they said: Our Lord, pour out upon us patience, make our feet firm, and help us against the disbelieving people) (2:250)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, means by His statement "and when they marched out against Jālūt and his armies": and when Ṭālūt [Saul] and his armies marched out against Jālūt and his armies.
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The meaning of His statement "barazū" (they marched out) is: they betook themselves to the barāz of the land, that is, that part of it which lies open and level. For this reason one says of the man who relieves himself: "tabarraza" (he went out to relieve himself), because the people in former times, in the age of ignorance (jāhiliyya), used to relieve themselves in the barāz of the land. That is just as one says: "taghawwaṭa," because they used to relieve themselves in the ghāʾiṭ of the land, that is, the low-lying part of it; and so one says of the men "taghawwaṭa," that is: he betook himself to the ghāʾiṭ of the land.
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As for His statement "Our Lord, pour out upon us patience": by it is meant that Ṭālūt and his companions said: "Our Lord, pour out upon us patience," that is: send down patience upon us.
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And His statement "and make our feet firm" means: and strengthen our hearts in the struggle (jihād) against them, so that our feet may remain firm and we may not take flight before them = "and help us against the disbelieving people," those who disbelieved in You and thus denied You as God and worshipped another than You, and took the idols as lords.
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Footnotes:
(37) In the manuscript and the printed edition it reads "lidhālika kamā qīla" ("for this reason, as was said"), but the context requires what has been established, and "lidhālika" does not form part of the preceding sentence.
