33. Al-Ahzab (The Confederates)[73 verses]

Medina Period 90 [3-5 Hijrah]

The Battle of Confederates or Trench [Khandaq]

Asad’s Version:

(33:27) and He made you heirs to their lands, and their houses, and their goods - and [promised you] lands on which you had never yet set foot: 30 for God has indeed the power to will anything.

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

وَأَوْرَثَكُمْ أَرْضَهُمْ وَدِيَارَهُمْ وَأَمْوَالَهُمْ وَأَرْضًا لَّمْ تَطَؤُوهَا...

33:27 . And He made you heirs of their lands, their houses, and their goods, and of a land which ye had not frequented (before).

C3705. If this part of the Surah was revealed after the autumn of the Hijrah year 7, it refers to the result of the Khaybar expedition of the autumn.

Khaybar is a Harrah or volcanic tract, well-watered with many springs issuing from its basaltic rocks. It has a good irrigation system and produces good harvests of grain and dates in its wet valleys, while the outcrop of rocks in the high ground affords sites for numerous fortresses.

At present it is inhabited chiefly by men of the race of Bilal (the Abyssinian) who played a prominent part in the expedition. It is a sort of island in the deserts on the outskirts of Najd.

In the holy Prophet's time there were Jewish colonies settled here, but they were a source of constant trouble especially after Siege of Madinah. It became a nest of all the hostile Jewish elements expelled for their treachery from elsewhere.

Its capital, Khaybar, is about 90 miles due north of Madinah. Its inhabitants offered some resistance, and Hadhrat Ali, though he had just risen from a bed of illness, performed prodigies of valour. After its surrender, a land settlement was made, which retained the cultivators of the soil on the land, but brought them under control, so that no further focus of active hostility should remain near Madinah.

The terms of the settlement will be found in Waqidi.

...وَكَانَ اللَّهُ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرًا ﴿٢٧﴾

And Allah has power over all things.

[[Asad’s note - 30 I.e., lands which the Muslims were to conquer and hold in the future. This clause - with its allusion to yet more prosperous times to come - provides a connection between the present passage and the next. ]]