Al-Ahzaab 33:25

Tafsir

Ibn Kathīr (abridged)

Allah drove back the Confederates disappointed and lost

Allah tells us how he drove the Confederates away from Al-Madinah by sending against them a wind and troops of angels. If Allah had not made his Messenger a Mercy to the Worlds, this wind would have been more severe than the barren wind which He sent against `Ad, but Allah says:

وَمَا كَانَ اللَّهُ لِيُعَذِّبَهُمْ وَأَنتَ فِيهِمْ

(And Allah would not punish them while you are amongst them) (8:33). So, Allah sent them a wind which dispersed them after they had gathered on the basis of their whims. They were a mixture of tribes and parties with a variety of opinions, so it was befitting that a wind should be sent against them that would scatter them and break up their gathering, driving them back disappointed and lost in their hatred and enmity. They did not achieve any worldly good such as the victory and booty that they had hoped for, nor did they achieve any good in the Hereafter, because of their sin of declaring enmity against the Messenger and seeking to kill him and destroy his army. Whoever wants and seriously intends to do a thing is the same as one who actually does it.

وَكَفَى اللَّهُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ الْقِتَالَ

(Allah sufficed for the believers in the fighting.) means, they did not have to fight them in order to expel them from their land, but Allah Alone sufficed them and helped His servant and granted victory to His troops. Hence the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to say,