إِذْ يُوحِى رَبُّكَ إِلَى ٱلْمَلَٰٓئِكَةِ أَنِّى مَعَكُمْ فَثَبِّتُوا۟ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ … يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِذَا لَقِيتُمُ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ زَحْفًا فَلَا تُوَلُّوهُمُ ٱلْأَدْبَارَ
"When your Lord was revealing to the angels: 'I am with you; make firm those who believe'… O you who believe! When you meet those who disbelieve advancing in force, do not turn your backs on them."
فَثَبِّتُوا۟ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ — the task given to the angels must be recorded: thabbitū — make firm.
I record this as an observation: the same root had occurred in the eleventh verse as well (wa yuthabbita bihi'l-aqdām). And in the ninth and tenth verses the function of the help had been confined to bushrā and iṭmiʾnān. Read together, the three verses keep the task of the angels in that same field: making firm.
زَحْفًا — root ز-ح-ف: to move forward crawling on the ground; the slow advance of an army. The word states the massed movement of a crowded army.
The sixteenth verse places two exceptions on the command not to turn back, and this is worth recording:
| Exception | Sense |
|---|---|
| Mutaḥarrifan li-qitāl | Shifting position for the fighting — a tactical movement |
| Aw mutaḥayyizan ilā fiʾa | Joining a unit |
I record this as my own reading: the command is not laid down absolutely. The verse itself separates flight from manoeuvre — and the measure is the direction and the purpose of the movement.
Per the method (Method): no current military or political conclusions are drawn from this.