Tafseer of The Spoils of War · Al-Anfaal · 8:43
[Remember, O Muhammad], when Allah showed them to you in your dream as few; and if He had shown them to you as many, you [believers] would have lost courage and would have disputed in the matter [of whether to fight], but Allah saved [you from that]. Indeed, He is Knowing of that within the breasts.
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 His word: إِذْ يُرِيكَهُمُ اللَّهُ فِي مَنَامِكَ قَلِيلا وَلَوْ أَرَاكَهُمْ كَثِيرًا لَفَشِلْتُمْ وَلَتَنَازَعْتُمْ فِي الأَمْرِ وَلَكِنَّ اللَّهَ سَلَّمَ إِنَّهُ عَلِيمٌ بِذَاتِ الصُّدُورِ (43) ("When Allah showed them to you in your sleep as few; and had He shown them to you as many, you would surely have lost heart and quarreled with one another over the matter; but Allah preserved you. Verily, He is All-Knowing of what the breasts conceal.") (43)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says: And verily Allah, O Muḥammad, is All-Hearing of what your companions say, All-Knowing of what they conceal within themselves, when Allah showed you your enemy and their enemy "in your sleep as few." He says: He showed them to you in your sleep as few, so that you might convey that to them, until their hearts grew strong and they ventured to fight their enemy. And had your Lord shown you your enemy and their enemy as many, your companions would have lost heart, and become cowardly and hesitant, and unable to fight that people, and they would have quarreled with one another over it. But Allah preserved them from that through what He showed you in your sleep as a vision. Verily, He is All-Knowing of what the breasts conceal; nothing of what the breasts carry within them escapes Him.
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Some have claimed that the meaning of His word "When Allah showed them to you in your sleep as few" is: namely in your eye with which you sleep. Thus they made "the sleep" (al-manām) the eye, as if He meant: when Allah showed them to you in your eye as few.
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And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
16150 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "When Allah showed them to you in your sleep as few," he said: Allah showed them to him in his sleep as few, and the Prophet ﷺ conveyed that to his companions, and that was a strengthening for them.
16151 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, with something similar.
16152 - ...And he said: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbdallāh related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same.
16153 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: "When Allah showed them to you in your sleep as few," the āya; and the first thing He showed him of that was a favor among His favors to them, with which He emboldened them against their enemy, and with which He warded off what was feared for them on account of their weakness, because He knew what was in them.
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And the people of interpretation differed concerning the interpretation of His word "but Allah preserved."
Some of them said: Its meaning is: but Allah preserved for the believers their affair, until He gave them victory over their enemy.
* Mention of who said that:
16154 - Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: My father related to me, saying: My uncle related to me, saying: My father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, his word: "but Allah preserved," he says: Allah preserved for them their affair, until He gave them victory over their enemy.
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And others said: Its meaning is rather: but Allah preserved His decree concerning them.
* Mention of who said that:
16155 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, saying: Maʿmar related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "but Allah preserved," he said: He preserved His decree concerning them.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: And the correct of the two views in this is, in my opinion, what Ibn ʿAbbās said, namely that Allah preserved the people — through what He showed His Prophet ﷺ in his sleep — from losing heart and quarreling with one another, until their hearts grew strong and they ventured to fight their enemy. That is because His word "but Allah preserved" follows His word "and had He shown them to you as many, you would surely have lost heart and quarreled with one another over the matter." So that which is most in agreement with the statement is that He, exalted be His praise, preserved them from that which was feared had He not shown His Prophet ﷺ the fewness of the people in his sleep.
