سُوْرَةُ الْاَنْفَالِ
Surah Al-Anfaal (8) — Ayah 44
وَإِذْ يُرِيكُمُوهُمْ إِذِ ٱلْتَقَيْتُمْ فِىٓ أَعْيُنِكُمْ قَلِيلًا وَيُقَلِّلُكُمْ فِىٓ أَعْيُنِهِمْ لِيَقْضِىَ ٱللَّهُ أَمْرًا كَانَ مَفْعُولًا ۗ وَإِلَى ٱللَّهِ تُرْجَعُ ٱلْأُمُورُ ﴿44﴾
Translation by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan & Dr. Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali
And (remember) when you met (the army of the disbelievers on the Day of the battle of Badr), He showed them to you as few in your eyes and He made you appear as few in their eyes, so that Allâh might accomplish a matter already ordained (in His Knowledge), and to Allâh return all matters (for decision).
Word by Word — Arabic, Transliteration & Meaning
وَإِذْ
wa-idh
And when
يُرِيكُمُوهُمْ
yurīkumūhum
He showed them to you
إِذِ
idhi
when
ٱلْتَقَيْتُمْ
l-taqaytum
you met
فِىٓ
fī
in
أَعْيُنِكُمْ
aʿyunikum
your eyes
قَلِيلًۭا
qalīlan
(as) few
وَيُقَلِّلُكُمْ
wayuqallilukum
and He made you (appear) as few
فِىٓ
fī
in
أَعْيُنِهِمْ
aʿyunihim
their eyes
لِيَقْضِىَ
liyaqḍiya
that might accomplish
ٱللَّهُ
l-lahu
Allah might accomplish
أَمْرًۭا
amran
a matter
كَانَ
kāna
(that) was
مَفْعُولًۭا ۗ
mafʿūlan
(already) destined
وَإِلَى
wa-ilā
And to
ٱللَّهِ
l-lahi
Allah
تُرْجَعُ
tur'jaʿu
return
ٱلْأُمُورُ
l-umūru
(all) the matters
Tafsir Taiseer ul-Quran — Maulana Abdul Rahman Kilani
Tafsir Taiseer ul-Quran (Facilitation of the Quran) is a comprehensive Quran commentary by Maulana Abdul Rahman Kilani, a renowned Salafi (Ahl al-Hadith) scholar from Pakistan. Known for his eloquent and accessible writing style, Kilani authored this tafsir with a focus on clarity — making Quranic meanings understandable to the common reader. The tafsir provides detailed historical context for verses related to battles and expeditions, and firmly refutes modernist ideologies using strong scriptural evidence. It is widely regarded as an invaluable resource for understanding the Quran and countering deviant interpretations. The tafsir is originally written in Urdu, translated to English by tohed.com.
44. And (remember) when you met (the enemy), Allah made them appear few in your eyes, and made you appear few in their eyes, so that Allah might accomplish a matter already destined [49]. And to Allah all matters are returned.
[49]
The Formation of Rows by the Prophet ﷺ in the Shape of a Hollow Square:
That is, you Muslims were perceiving the number of disbelievers as slightly less than their actual number, and the enemy thought that the Muslims were much fewer than themselves. In this way, the morale of both sides was raised and they became ready to fight. Thus, the causes for what was destined in the Divine Will continued to be created, and it ultimately came to pass. Here, it seems necessary to clarify that this refers to the time when both armies had not yet lined up, and when they did line up, at that time the disbelievers began to see the Muslims as double their actual number, as is mentioned in Surah Aal-e-Imran: ﴿يَّرَوْنَهُمْ مِّثْلَيْهِمْ رَاْيَ الْعَيْنِ﴾. And this was a very skillful military strategy of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that he arranged the ranks of the Companions in the form of a hollow square, due to which the disbelievers actually saw the Muslims as double their number, and thus it was inevitable that their morale would be diminished. And some scholars say that this refers to the time when the angels descended in the Battle of Badr. In my opinion, this interpretation is not correct because even most Muslims could not see the angels; how could the disbelievers see them?
[49]
The Formation of Rows by the Prophet ﷺ in the Shape of a Hollow Square:
That is, you Muslims were perceiving the number of disbelievers as slightly less than their actual number, and the enemy thought that the Muslims were much fewer than themselves. In this way, the morale of both sides was raised and they became ready to fight. Thus, the causes for what was destined in the Divine Will continued to be created, and it ultimately came to pass. Here, it seems necessary to clarify that this refers to the time when both armies had not yet lined up, and when they did line up, at that time the disbelievers began to see the Muslims as double their actual number, as is mentioned in Surah Aal-e-Imran: ﴿يَّرَوْنَهُمْ مِّثْلَيْهِمْ رَاْيَ الْعَيْنِ﴾. And this was a very skillful military strategy of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that he arranged the ranks of the Companions in the form of a hollow square, due to which the disbelievers actually saw the Muslims as double their number, and thus it was inevitable that their morale would be diminished. And some scholars say that this refers to the time when the angels descended in the Battle of Badr. In my opinion, this interpretation is not correct because even most Muslims could not see the angels; how could the disbelievers see them?
