The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 2) — Page 114
CH. 3 ĀL-E-‘IMRĀN PT. 4 righteous and they come upon بَلَى إِنْ تَصْبِرُوا وَتَتَّقُوا وَ يَأْتُوكُمْ مِنْ Yea, if you be steadfast and. 126 فَوْرِهِمْ هُذَا يُمْدِدْكُمْ رَبُّكُمْ بِخَمْسَةِ you immediately in hot haste أَلْفِ مِنَ الْمَلَكَةِ مُسَوَّمِيْنَ your Lord will help you with five thousand angels, attacking vehemently. 410 made another attack upon Muslims sometime after Uḥud, God would help the latter by sending down a force of three thousand angels. It is a mistake to think that these words refer to the Battle of Badr which has been mentioned in the preceding verse only incidentally in order to cite an illustration of how God helped steadfast Muslims in times of danger. Moreover, the number of angels sent at the Battle of Badr was, according to 8:10, one thousand and not three thousand, as here stated. The fulfilment of the present promise is referred to in 3:152 below. 410. Important Words: ✓ (immediately) is derived from 6. They sayi. e. the water gushed forth from the earth. means, the contents of the cooking pot vehemently boiled and rose high in it. means, the intensity of heat or anger or the like. means, the first part of the day. signifies the state or condition that comes without delay. The Arabs say returned or turned back immediately without tarrying (Arab). he (attacking vehemently) is derived from. They say i. e. he branded the horse with a brand. means, he let loose the horses for سوم 554 grazing. means, he suddenly and vehemently attacked them and wrought havoc among them (Aqrab). In the verse under comment the word is used in the last-mentioned sense. Commentary: The verse signifies that if the disbelievers returned to the attack at once, without giving the Muslims any opportunity to recoup themselves, God would help the latter with five thousand angels. The difference in the number of angels, in the preceding verse the number mentioned being 3,000 was due to the difference in the condition of the Muslims. They were at that time exhausted and wounded and, therefore, needed greater help than they would have needed, if the enemy attack had been delayed. The enemy did indeed think of returning, but God prevented them from doing so. Briefly stated, the facts are that when the Quraish were retracing their steps towards Mecca, members of the Arab tribes living in the vicinity of Medina asked them about the results of the battle, and when they declared that they were victorious, these men put them to shame by saying, "If you have been really victorious, where are the