The Speeches & Table-Talk of the Prophet Mohammad · Prophet Muhammad
THE VICTORY.
_In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._ Verily we have won for thee a clear VICTORY-- That God may forgive thee thy former and latter sins, and fulfil His grace to thee, and guide thee on the straight way, And that God may help thee mightily. He it is who sent down peace into the hearts of the faithful, to strengthen their faith with faith, (for God’s are the armies of the heavens and the earth, and God is All-knowing and Wise:) To bring the faithful, men and women, into gardens beneath which rivers flow, to dwell therein for ever, and to take away their offences; and that is the great prize with God: And to torment the hypocrites and the idolaters, men and women, who think of God an evil thought; there shall come upon them a turn of evil, and God is wroth with them and hath cursed them, and hath prepared Hell for them, and evil shall be their journey. God’s are the armies of the heavens and the earth, and God is Mighty and Wise! Verily we have sent thee as a witness and a herald of gladness and a warner, That ye may believe in God and in His Apostle; and may revere Him, and honour Him, and magnify Him morning and evening. In truth, they who swear fealty to thee, do but swear fealty to God: the hand of God is upon their hands! Whosoever therefore breaketh it, breaketh it only to his own hurt; but whosoever is true to what he hath covenanted with God, He will give him a great reward.
The Arabs of the desert who were left behind will say to thee, “Our property and our families employed us; so ask pardon for us.” They speak with their tongues what is not in their hearts. Say: But who can obtain aught for you from God, if He design for you harm, or design for you benefit? Nay, God is acquainted with what ye do! Nay, ye thought that the Apostles and the faithful would not come back to their families any more, and that seemed good in your hearts, and ye thought an evil thought, and ye are a lost people. And whosoever believeth not in God and His Apostle ... verily we have made ready a flame for the unbelievers! And God’s is the kingdom of the heavens and of the earth; He forgiveth whom He will, and He tormenteth whom He will: and God is Forgiving, Merciful! They who were left behind will say when ye go forth to the spoil to take it, “Let us follow you.” They would fain change the Word of God. Say: Ye shall by no means follow us; thus hath God said already. Then they will say, “Nay, ye are jealous of us.” Nay, they are men of but little understanding. Say to those who were left behind of the Arabs of the desert, Ye shall be called out against a people of mighty valour; ye shall fight with them, or they shall profess Islam. If, therefore, ye obey, God will bring you a goodly reward; but if ye turn your backs as ye turned your backs before, He will torment you with aching torment. For the blind it is no crime, and for the lame no crime, and for the sick no crime [to turn the back.] And whoso obeyeth God and His Apostle He shall bring him into gardens whereunder rivers flow: but whoso turneth his back, He will torment him with aching torment.
Well-pleased was God with the believers, when they sware fealty to thee under the tree; and He knew what was in their hearts: therefore did He send down tranquillity upon them, and rewarded them with a victory near at hand, And many spoils to take, for God is Mighty and Wise! God promised you many spoils to take, and sped this for you; (and He held back men’s hands from you, that it might be a sign to the faithful, and that He might guide you on the straight way;) And other spoils which ye could not take: but now hath God compassed it, for God is powerful over all. If the unbelievers had fought against you, they would assuredly have turned their backs; then would they have met with no protector or helper. This is God’s way which prevailed before: and no changing wilt thou find in God’s way. And He it was who held back their hands from you, and your hands from them, in the valley of Mekka, after that He had given you the victory over them; for God ever seeth what ye do. These are they who believed not, and kept you away from the Sacred Mosque, as well as the offering, which was prevented from reaching its destination.
And but for the faithful men and women, whom ye did not know and might have trampled, so that guilt might have lighted on you on their account without your knowledge, that God might bring whom He pleased into His mercy; had they been separate, we had surely punished the unbelievers among them with a grievous torment. When the unbelievers had put disdain in their hearts,--the disdain of ignorance,--God sent down His tranquillity on His Apostle and the faithful, and fixed firmly in them the word of piety, for they were most worthy and fit for it, and God well knoweth all things. Now hath God spoken truth to His Apostle in the night vision: “Ye shall surely enter the Sacred Mosque, if God please, safe, with shaven heads, or hair cut; ye shall not fear, for He knoweth what ye do not know; and He hath ordained you, besides that, a victory near at hand.” It is He who hath sent his Apostle with the guidance and the religion of truth, to make it triumph over every religion; and God is witness enough! Mohammad is the Apostle of God, and those of his party are vehement against the infidels, but compassionate to one another. Thou mayest see them bowing down, worshipping, seeking grace from God, and His approval; their tokens are on their faces--the traces of their prostrations. This is their likeness in the Torah, and their likeness in the Gospel, like a seed which putteth forth its stalk, and strengtheneth it, and it groweth stout, and standeth up upon its stem, rejoicing the sowers--to anger unbelievers thereby. To those among them who believe, and do the things that are right, God hath promised forgiveness and a mighty reward. (xlviii.) _In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful._ When the HELP of God and victory come, And thou seest the people entering the religion of God in troops; Then magnify the praises of thy Lord, and seek forgiveness of Him; verily He is ever relenting. (cx.)
Ideas discussed in this chapter
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.