Tafseer of The Victory · Al-Fath · 48:23
[This is] the established way of Allah which has occurred before. And never will you find in the way of Allah any change.
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.
And His statement ( سُنَّةَ اللَّهِ الَّتِي قَدْ خَلَتْ مِنْ قَبْلُ ) — "The way of Allah, which has already been in effect before" —. The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: had these unbelievers (kuffār) of the Quraysh fought you, then Allah would have forsaken them until He defeated them at your hands, just as He forsook their like among those who disbelieved in Him — those who fought His friends (awliyāʾ) among the communities that passed away before them. And He placed the word ( سُنَّةَ اللَّهِ ) in the accusative, not derived from a word of the same form; that is because in His statement ( لَوَلَّوُا الأدْبَارَ ثُمَّ لا يَجِدُونَ وَلِيًّا وَلا نَصِيرًا ) — "they would have turned their backs and then found neither protector nor helper" — the meaning is implied: "I have ordained among them defeat and forsaking as a law (sanantu)", and for that reason it was said ( سُنَّةَ اللَّهِ ) as a verbal noun (maṣdar) derived from the meaning of the statement, not from its wording. And it is possible that it is an explanation of what precedes it in the statement.
And His statement ( وَلَنْ تَجِدَ لِسُنَّةِ اللَّهِ تَبْدِيلا ) — "and you will never find any change in the way of Allah" —. The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: and you, O Muḥammad, will find no alteration in the way of Allah which He has established among His creatures; rather, that is permanent: for the doing of good its recompense of good, and for evildoing and unbelief the punishment and the deterring chastisement.
