J. F. Campbell Collection > Koran: or, Alcoran of Mohammed

144 AL KORAN. CHAP. viii.
feer;' and if he had caused them to appear numerous unto thee, ye would
have been disheartened, and would have disputed concerning the matter:*
but God preserved you from fids; for he knoweth the innermost parts of
the breasts of men. And when he caused them to appear unto you, when
ye met, to he few in your eyes;'' and diminished your numbers in their
eyes;" that God might accomplish the thing which was decreed to be done :
and unto God shall all tilings return. true believers, when ye meet a
party of the infidels, stand firm, and remember God frequently, that ye may
prosper : and obey God and his apostle, and be not refractory, lest ye be
discouraged, and your success depart from you ; but persevere with patience,
for God is with those who persevere. And be not as those who went out
of their houses in an insolent manner, and to appear with ostentation unto
men,^ and turned aside from the way of God ; for God compi-ehendeth that
which they do. And remember when Satan prepared their works for them,®
and said, No man shall prevail against you to-day; and I will surely be
near to assist you. But when the two armies appeared in sight of each
other, he turned back on his heels, and said, Verily I am clear of you :
I certainly see that which ye see not; I fear God, for God is severe in
punishing.'' When the hy])ocrites, and those in whose hearts there was an
• With which vision ^lohamnied acquainted his companions for their encouragement.
• Whether ye should attack the enemy or flee.
•> It is said that Ebn Masud asked the man who was next him, whether he did not see
them to be about seventy ; to which he replied that he took them to be a hundred.'
This seeming contradictory to a passage in the third chapter,* where it is said
that the Moslems appeared to the infidels to be twice their own number, the com-
mentators reconcile the matter, by telling us that just before the battle began, the
prophet's party seemed fewer than they really were, to draw the enemy to an en-
gagement ; but that so soon as the armies were fully engaged, they appeared
superior, to terrify and dismay their adversaries. It is related that Abu Jahl at
first thought them so inconsiderable a handful, that he said one camel would be as
much as they could all eat.*
^ These were the Meccans, who, marching to the assistance of the caravan, and
being come as fur as Johfa, were there met by a messenger from Abu Sofiin, to
acquaint them that he thought himself out of danger, and therefore they might
return home; upon which Abu Jahl, to give the greater opinion of the courage of
himself and his comrades, and of their readiness to assist their friends, swore that
they would not return till they had been at Bedr, and had there drunk wine, and
entertained those who should be present, and diverted themselves with singing-
women. * The event of which bravado was very fatal, several of the principal
Koreish, and Abu Jahl in particular, losing their lives in the expedition.
• By inciting them to oppose the prophet.
'Some understand tliis passage figuratively, of the private instigation of the devil,
and of the defeating of his designs and the hopes with which he had inspired the
idolaters. But others take the whole literally, and tell us that when the Koreish,
on their march, bethought themselves of the enmity between them and the tribe of
Kenana, who were masters of the country about Bedr, that consideration would
have prevailed on them to return, had not the devil appeared in the likeness of
Soraka Ebn Malec, a principal person of that tribe, and promised them that they
should not be molested, and that himself would go with them. But when they came
to join battle, and the devil saw the angels descending to the assistance of the
Moslems, he retired ; and al Hareth Ebn Hesham, who had him then by the hand,
asking him whither he was going, and if he intended to betray them at such a
juncture, he answered in the words of this passage, / am clear of you all, for I see that
which ye see not ; meaning the celestial succours. They say further, that when the
Koreish, on their return, laid the blame of their overthrow on Soraka, he swore
that he did not so much as know of their march till he heard they were routed: and
afterwards, when they embraced Mohammedism, they were satisfied it was the devil.^
» Al Beidawi. * Page 35. * Al Beidawi, Jallalo'ddin, Yahya. • Al Beidawi.
' Idem. Jallalo'ddin.