إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ لَن تُغْنِىَ عَنْهُمْ أَمْوَٰلُهُمْ وَلَآ أَوْلَٰدُهُم مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ شَيْـًٔا … قَدْ كَانَ لَكُمْ ءَايَةٌ فِى فِئَتَيْنِ ٱلْتَقَتَا
Inna'lladhīna kafarū lan tughniya ʿanhum amwāluhum wa lā awlāduhum mina'llāhi shayʾā, wa ulāʾika hum waqūdu'n-nār · Ka-daʾbi āli Firʿawna wa'lladhīna min qablihim, kadhdhabū bi-āyātinā fa-akhadhahumu'llāhu bi-dhunūbihim, wa'llāhu shadīdu'l-ʿiqāb · Qul li'lladhīna kafarū sa-tughlabūna wa tuḥsharūna ilā jahannama wa biʾsa'l-mihād · Qad kāna lakum āyatun fī fiʾatayni'ltaqatā, fiʾatun tuqātilu fī sabīli'llāhi wa ukhrā kāfiratun yarawnahum mithlayhim raʾya'l-ʿayn, wa'llāhu yuʾayyidu bi-naṣrihī man yashāʾ, inna fī dhālika la-ʿibratan li-ūli'l-abṣār
"For those who disbelieve, neither their wealth nor their children will avail them anything against God… like the way of the family of Pharaoh and of those before them… Say to those who disbelieve: you will be overcome… In two companies that met there was a sign for you: one was fighting in the way of God, the other was disbelieving; with the sight of the eye they saw them as twice their own number. God supports with His help whom He wills. In this there is surely a lesson for those who have eyes to see."
The concrete sense of the root is worth recording: daʾaba fī ʿamalih — to keep at a piece of work in the same way, without tiring. Daʾb — a continuing habit, an accustomed course.
That is, the verse does not say "like the condition of the family of Pharaoh"; it says "like their course". The word conveys not a single event but a repeated pattern.
I record this as an observation: the choice of the word prepares in advance the line the sūra will lay down later in the Uḥud block. There too what will be described is not a single event but a recurring law: qad khalat min qablikum sunan (137).
The thirteenth verse names an encounter that took place in the past. In the classical sources this is identified as Badr.
Per the method (Method) I record this: the verse gives neither a place name nor a personal name. The only thing it gives is the attribute of the two sides: one tuqātilu fī sabīli'llāh, the other kāfira. In this commentary I do not go into the detail of the reports.
The sentence is one of the most debated places in the classical commentaries, because the reference of the pronouns is undetermined.
| Reading | Who sees whom | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Those who disbelieve, the believers | The smaller side appears twice its number to the other side — fear falls on them |
| 2 | The believers, the other side | The larger side appears twice its number to the eye — and they stand firm even so |
| 3 | The believers, themselves | They see their own number as double and find confidence in it |
And the note raʾya'l-ʿayn must be dwelt on: "with the sight of the eye". That is, what is in question is not a guess or a supposition; it is recorded as something seen with the eye.
I give this as an observation, and it holds whichever reading is taken: the verse takes as its subject the perceived amount of the number, not the real amount. And that what is decisive in a battle is often not the real number but how the two sides see each other is a thing observed throughout history. I record this as a point of view; I am not dressing the verse in a modern thesis.
لِّأُو۟لِى ٱلْأَبْصَٰرِ — "for those who have sight." And this belongs to the same family as the ūlu'l-albāb of the seventh verse. In three separate places the sūra uses three separate constructions with "those who have": ūlu'l-albāb (7, 190), ūlu'l-abṣār (13), ūlu'l-ʿilm (18). This is a verifiable fact.