Tafseer of The Victory · Al-Fath · 48:22
And if those [Makkans] who disbelieve had fought you, they would have turned their backs [in flight]. Then they would not find a protector or a helper.
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 explanation of the saying of the Exalted: And if the disbelievers had fought against you, then they would surely have turned their backs; thereafter they would find no protector (walī) and no helper (naṣīr) (48:22).
The Exalted, whose praise is sublime, says to those who believed in Him among the people of the Pledge of Good Pleasure (bayʿat al-riḍwān): And if the disbelievers had fought against you — namely the disbelievers in Allah, O you believers, at Mecca — then they would surely have turned their backs. He says: then they would have fled from you and turned their backs to you, and so does the one who flees from his opponent in battle. Then they would find no protector and no helper. He says: then these disbelievers, who fled from you and turned their backs to you, would find no protector (walī) who would ally with them in the fight against you, and no helper (naṣīr) who would aid them against you, because Allah, the Exalted, whose praise is sublime, is with you, and the party of Allah, which has Him as helper, will never be defeated.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) spoke.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying And if the disbelievers had fought against you, then they would surely have turned their backs — that is, the disbelievers of Quraysh. Allah said: then they would find no protector and no helper who would aid them against Allah.
