30 Ar-Rum (The Byzantines), 60 verses
Mecca Period 84[6-7 years before Hijra]
Asad’s version
30:2 DEFEATED have been the Byzantines
(30:3) in the lands close-by; yet it is they who, notwithstanding this their defeat, shall be victorious
(30:4) within a few years: [for with God rests all power of decision, first and last. 2
And on that day will the believers [too, have cause to] rejoice (30:5) in God's succour: 3 [for] He gives succour to whomever He wills, since He alone is almighty, a dispenser of grace.
The Quranic text and Ali’s version
غُلِبَتِ
الرُّومُ
﴿٢﴾
2. The Roman Empire has been defeated --
C3505. The remarkable defeats of the Roman Empire under Heraclius and the straits to which it was reduced are reviewed in Appendix VIII (to follow this Surah).
It was not merely isolated defeats; the Roman Empire lost most of its Asiatic territory and was hemmed in on all sides at its capital, Constantinople.
فِي أَدْنَى الْأَرْضِ...
3. In a land close by;
The defeat, "in a land close by" must refer to Syria and Palestine, Jerusalem was lost in 614-15 A.D., shortly before this Surah was revealed.
...
وَهُم
مِّن بَعْدِ
غَلَبِهِمْ
سَيَغْلِبُونَ
﴿٣﴾
but they, (even) after (this) defeat of theirs, will soon be victorious --
C3506. The Pagan Quraish of Makkah rejoiced at the overthrow of Rome by Persia. They were pro-Persian, and in their heart of hearts they hoped that the nascent movement of Islam, which at that time was, from a worldly point of view, very weak and helpless, would also collapse under their persecution.
But they misread the true Signs of the times. They are told here that they would soon be disillusioned in both their calculations, and it actually so happened at the battle of Issus in 622 (the year of Hijrah) and in 624, when Heradius carried his campaign into the heart of Persia (see Appendix VIII) and the Makkan Quraish were beaten off at Badr.
فِي بِضْعِ سِنِينَ...
4. Within a few years.
C3507. Bidh'un in the text means a short period-a period of from three to nine years.
The period between the loss of Jerusalem (614-15) by the Romans and their victory at Issus (622) was seven years, and that to the penetration of Persia by Heraclius was name years.
See last note.
... لِلَّهِ الْأَمْرُ مِن قَبْلُ وَمِن بَعْدُ...
With Allah is the Decision, in the Past and in the Future:
...
وَيَوْمَئِذٍ
يَفْرَحُ
الْمُؤْمِنُونَ
﴿٤﴾
on that Day shall the Believers rejoice --
C3508. See n. 3506 and Appendix VIII.
The battle of Badr (2 A.H. i.e. 624 A.D.) was a real time of rejoicing for the Believers and a time of disillusionment for the arrogant Quraish, who thought that they could crush the whole movement of Islam in Madinah as they had tried to do in Makkah. but they were signally repulsed.
See n. 352 to 3:13.
[[Asad’s notes:-
2 Lit., "before and after". The defeats and victories spoken of above relate to the last phases of the centuries-long struggle between the Byzantine and Persian Empires. During the early years of the seventh century the Persians conquered parts of Syria and Anatolia, "the lands close-by", i.e., near the heartland of the Byzantine Empire; in 613 they took Damascus, and in 614, Jerusalem; Egypt fell to them in 615-16, and at the same time they laid siege to Constantinople itself. At the time of the revelation of this surah - about the seventh year before the hijrah, corresponding to 615 or 616 of the Christian era - the total destruction of the Byzantine Empire seemed imminent. The
few Muslims around the Prophet were despondent on hearing the news of the utter discomfiture of the Byzantines, who were Christians and, as such, believed in the One God. The pagan Quraysh, on the other hand, sympathized with Persians who, they thought, would vindicate their own opposition to the One-God idea. When Muhammad enunciated the above Qur'an-verses predicting a Byzantine victory "within a few years", this prophecy was received with derision by the Quraysh. Now the term bid' (commonly rendered as "a few") denotes any number between three and ten; and, as it happened, in 622 - i.e., six or seven years after the Qur'anic prediction - the tide turned in favour of the Byzantines. In that year, Emperor Heraclius succeeded in defeating the Persians at Issus, south of the Taurus Mountains, and subsequently drove them out of Asia Minor. By 624, he carried the war into Persian territory and thus put the enemy on the defensive; and in the beginning of December, 626, the Persian armies were completely routed by the Byzantines.
3 This is a prediction of the battle of Badr, which was to take place eight or nine years later, in the month of Ramadan, 2 H. (corresponding to January, 624, of the Christian era), when the Muslims decisively defeated a very much superior force of pagan Quraysh (see introductory note to surah 8). The expression 'on that day" has in this context the meaning of "at the same time", for although the battle of Badr began and ended on one day, the victories of Heraclius over the Persians took some years to materialize. ]]