يَٰٓأَيُّهَا

ٱلَّذِينَ

ءَامَنُواْ

ٱذۡكُرُواْ

نِعۡمَةَ

ٱللَّهِ

عَلَيۡكُمۡ

إِذۡ

جَآءَتۡكُمۡ

جُنُودٞ

فَأَرۡسَلۡنَا

عَلَيۡهِمۡ

رِيحٗا

وَجُنُودٗا

لَّمۡ

تَرَوۡهَاۚ

وَكَانَ

ٱللَّهُ

بِمَا

تَعۡمَلُونَ

بَصِيرًا

٩

O believers! Remember Allah’s favour upon you when ˹enemy˺ forces came to ˹besiege˺ you ˹in Medina˺,¹ so We sent against them a ˹bitter˺ wind and forces you could not see.² And Allah is All-Seeing of what you do.

˹Remember˺ when they came at you from east and west,¹ when your eyes grew wild ˹in horror˺ and your hearts jumped into your throats, and you entertained ˹conflicting˺ thoughts about Allah.²

Then and there the believers were put to the test, and were violently shaken.

And ˹remember˺ when the hypocrites and those with sickness in their hearts said, “Allah and His Messenger have promised us nothing but delusion!”

And ˹remember˺ when a group of them said, “O people of Yathrib!¹ There is no point in you staying ˹here˺, so retreat!” Another group of them asked the Prophet’s permission ˹to leave˺, saying, “Our homes are vulnerable,” while ˹in fact˺ they were not vulnerable. They only wished to flee.

Had their city been sacked from all sides and they had been asked to abandon faith, they would have done so with little hesitation.

They had already pledged to Allah earlier never to turn their backs ˹in retreat˺. And a pledge to Allah must be answered for.