وَٱذْكُرُوٓا۟ إِذْ أَنتُمْ قَلِيلٌ مُّسْتَضْعَفُونَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ تَخَافُونَ أَن يَتَخَطَّفَكُمُ ٱلنَّاسُ فَـَٔاوَىٰكُمْ وَأَيَّدَكُم بِنَصْرِهِۦ
"Remember when you were few, seen as weak in the land, fearing that people would snatch you away. Then He gave you shelter and strengthened you with His help."
يَتَخَطَّفَكُم — the root خ-ط-ف was treated in al-ʿAnkabūt 29/67 and in al-Qaṣaṣ 28/57, where two verses were tabulated (those around them are snatched away / they fear being snatched away). This is the third link — and in al-Anfāl the same fear is mentioned in the past tense: as a state now past.
مُّسْتَضْعَفُون — Form X: those who are seen as weak and made weak. The root was treated in detail in al-Qaṣaṣ 28/4-5, where it was recorded: weakness is not something that happens of itself, it is something done. I rely on that treatment.
And the function of the verse is worth recording: in the middle of the dispute over the spoils, the sūra makes a reminder of the past. I give this as my own reading: at the point where what has been gained is being disputed, the time when that thing was not there at all is recalled.