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la-qad tāba llāhu ʿalā n-nabiyyi wa-l-muhājirīna wa-l-ʾanṣāri lladhīna ttabaʿūhu fī sāʿati l-ʿusrati min baʿdi mā kāda yazīghu qulūbu farīqin minhum thumma tāba ʿalayhim ʾinnahū bihim raʾūfun raḥīmun
Certainly Allah turned clemently to the Prophet and the Emigrants and the Helpers, who followed him in the hour of difficulty, after the hearts of a part of them were about to swerve. Then He turned clemently to them—indeed, He is most kind and merciful to them
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah At-Tawbah – Verse 117
117 . “Allah has turned (mercifully) towards the Prophet and the Emigrants and the Helpers who followed him in the hour of difficulty, after the hearts of a part of them were about to swerve. Then He turned towards them (mercifully). Verily He is Full of pity, Merciful to them.”
The process of the Battle of Tabūk was very hard and tiresome for the Prophet (S) and the Muslims. It was a difficult circumstance for them. On one side, the weather was terribly hot and, on the other side, it was the season of picking off the fruits. The Muslims, who had laboured for one year, had to leave off their crops because they had not opportunity to gather them. And, on the other side, they were quietly poor, so that they had not enough food to eat.
An Islamic tradition denotes that they had not even enough water, and sometimes it happened that several of them only tasted a single date. In such hard and difficult circumstances, the Prophet (S) and the Emigrants and the Helpers (Ansār) went to Holy Struggle in the way of Allah. In this verse, the Qur’ān has spoken of the grace, favour, regard and attentiveness of Allah upon the Muslims who went forth for Holy Struggle in that difficult situation. It says:
The circumstance was so hard that some of the Muslims were incapable to bear it any longer and intended to return. But Allah promoted their spirit and they could tolerate and remained. That is why the Qur’ān implies that this matter happened after that the hearts of some of them were nearly to swerve; but Allah caused them to succeed to repent, and He accepted their repentance since He is the Beneficent, the Merciful. The verse continues saying: