Tafseer of The Spoils of War · Al-Anfaal · 8:44
And [remember] when He showed them to you, when you met, as few in your eyes, and He made you [appear] as few in their eyes so that Allah might accomplish a matter already destined. And to Allah are [all] matters returned.
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: وَإِذْ يُرِيكُمُوهُمْ إِذِ الْتَقَيْتُمْ فِي أَعْيُنِكُمْ قَلِيلا وَيُقَلِّلُكُمْ فِي أَعْيُنِهِمْ لِيَقْضِيَ اللَّهُ أَمْرًا كَانَ مَفْعُولا وَإِلَى اللَّهِ تُرْجَعُ الأُمُورُ (44) (And [remember] when He showed them to you, when you met, as few in your eyes, and made you few in their eyes, so that Allah might accomplish a matter that was to be done. And to Allah all matters return. (44))
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: And indeed, Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing — when Allah shows His Prophet, in his sleep, the polytheists (mushrikīn) as few, and when Allah shows the believers them, when they met them, as few in their eyes, while their number was in reality numerous; and He makes the believers few in their (the polytheists') eyes, so that they would neglect making preparation against them, so that their strength became easy for the believers to overcome. As:
16156 - Ibn Bazīʿ al-Baghdādī related to me, saying: Isḥāq ibn Manṣūr related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Abū ʿUbayda, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, who said: Truly they were made few in our eyes on the day of Badr, until I said to a man beside me: "Do you see them as seventy?" He said: "I see them as a hundred." He said: Then we captured a man of them and we said: "How many are you?" He said: "A thousand."
16157 - Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Abū ʿUbayda, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, in a similar manner.
16158 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, concerning His statement: "And [remember] when He showed them to you, when you met, as few in your eyes" — Ibn Masʿūd said: They were made few in our eyes, until I said to a man: "Do you reckon that they will be a hundred?"
16159 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, who said: Some people of the polytheists said: "The caravan has already returned, so return." Then Abū Jahl said: "Now that Muḥammad and his companions have appeared before you! Do not return until you exterminate them root and branch." And he said: "O people, do not kill them with the weapon, but seize them alive and bind them with ropes!" — this he said because of the power he imagined within himself.
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And His statement: "so that Allah might accomplish a matter that was to be done" — the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: I made you, O believers, few in the eyes of the polytheists, and I showed them to you as few in your eyes, so that Allah might decide between you what He had decreed of mutual combat, and your victory, O believers, over your enemies among the polytheists and your triumph over them, so that the word of Allah would be the highest and the word of those who disbelieved the lowest. And that was a matter that Allah was going to carry out and in which He was going to fulfill His decree. As:
16160 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: "so that Allah might accomplish a matter that was to be done" — that is to say: so that He might bring them together to the war, as a punishment for whom He willed to punish, and as a favor for whom He willed to complete the favor among the people of His protection.
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= "And to Allah all matters return" — the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: The return of all matters is to Him in the Hereafter, and He will recompense their possessors according to the measure of their desert: the doer of good with His good reward, and the doer of evil with his evil.
