ٱلتَّوْبَة : ٤٠

  • إِلَّا If not
  • تَنصُرُوهُ you help him
  • فَقَدۡ certainly
  • نَصَرَهُ Allah helped him
  • ٱللَّهُ Allah helped him
  • إِذۡ when
  • أَخۡرَجَهُ drove him out
  • ٱلَّذِينَ those who
  • كَفَرُواْ disbelieved
  • ثَانِيَ the second
  • ٱثۡنَيۡنِ (of) the two
  • إِذۡ when
  • هُمَا they both
  • فِي (were) in
  • ٱلۡغَارِ the cave
  • إِذۡ when
  • يَقُولُ he said
  • لِصَٰحِبِهِۦ to his companion
  • لَا (Do) not
  • تَحۡزَنۡ grieve
  • إِنَّ indeed
  • ٱللَّهَ Allah
  • مَعَنَاۖ (is) with us
  • فَأَنزَلَ Then Allah sent down
  • ٱللَّهُ Then Allah sent down
  • سَكِينَتَهُۥ His tranquility
  • عَلَيۡهِ upon him
  • وَأَيَّدَهُۥ and supported him
  • بِجُنُودٖ with forces
  • لَّمۡ which you did not see
  • تَرَوۡهَا which you did not see
  • وَجَعَلَ and made
  • كَلِمَةَ (the) word
  • ٱلَّذِينَ (of) those who
  • كَفَرُواْ disbelieved
  • ٱلسُّفۡلَىٰۗ the lowest
  • وَكَلِمَةُ while (the) Word
  • ٱللَّهِ (of) Allah
  • هِيَ it (is)
  • ٱلۡعُلۡيَاۗ the highest
  • وَٱللَّهُ And Allah
  • عَزِيزٌ (is) All-Mighty
  • حَكِيمٌ All-Wise
If you do not aid him [i.e., the Prophet (ﷺ)] - Allāh has already aided him when those who disbelieved had driven him out [of Makkah] as one of two,1 when they were in the cave and he [i.e., Muḥammad (ﷺ)] said to his companion, "Do not grieve; indeed Allāh is with us." And Allāh sent down His tranquility upon him and supported him with soldiers [i.e., angels] you did not see and made the word2 of those who disbelieved the lowest,3 while the word of Allāh4 - that is the highest. And Allāh is Exalted in Might and Wise.
Footnotes
1 The second was his companion, Abū Bakr.
2 i.e., their claims and slogans.
3 i.e., degraded and dishonored.
4 "Lā ilāha ill-Allāh" ("There is no deity except Allāh").
If you do not help him, that is, the Prophet may peace and salutation be upon him, [know that] God has already helped him, when the disbelievers drove him forth, from Mecca, that is, they made him resort to leaving, when they desired to kill him or imprison him or banish him at the council assembly - the second of two (thaaniya ithnayn: this is a circumstantial qualifier), that is, one of two, the other being Aboo Bakr: in other words, just as God helped him in such a situation, He will not forsake him in another; when (idh substitutes for the previous idh) the two were in the cave - a breach in the mountain called Thawr - when (idh substituting again), he said to his companion, Aboo Bakr - who, upon perceiving the [sound of the] feet of the idolaters [nearby], had said to him, 'If one of them should merely look below his feet, he will definitely see us!' - 'Do not despair; verily God is with us', assisting [us]. Then God sent down His Spirit of Peace upon him, His reassurance - some say this means upon the Prophet, others, that it means upon Aboo Bakr - and supported him, that is, the Prophet may peace and salutation be upon him, with legions, of angels, you did not see, [both] in the cave and in the locations in which he fought battles; and He made the word of those who disbelieved, that is, the call to idolatry, the nethermost, the one vanquished, and the Word of God, that is, the profession of His Oneness (shahaada), was the uppermost, the one prevailing and triumphant. And God is Mighty, in His Kingdom, Wise, in His actions.