Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Anfal Verse 9

Mufti Taqi Usmani

When you were calling your Lord for help, so He responded to you (saying): “I am going to support you with one thousand of the angels, one following the other.”

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

˹Remember˺ when you cried out to your Lord for help, He answered, “I will reinforce you with a thousand angels—followed by many others.”[[ Five thousand angels in total, as mentioned in {3:125}. ]]

Ruwwad Translation Center

[Remember] when you were seeking help of your Lord [at Badr] and He responded to you, “I will reinforce you with a thousand angels, following one another in succession.”

A. J. Arberry

When you were calling upon your Lord for succour, and He answered you, 'I shall reinforce you with a thousand angels riding behind you.'

Abdul Haleem

When you begged your Lord for help, He answered you, ‘I will reinforce you with a thousand angels in succession.’

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And recall what time ye implored our Lord and He answered you: verily I am about to succour you with a thousand of angels rank in rank.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Remember ye implored the assistance of your Lord, and He answered you; "I will assist you with a thousand of the angels, ranks on ranks."

Abul Ala Maududi

And recall when you implored your Lord for help and He responded to you: 'I will indeed reinforce you with a thousand angels, coming host after host.'

Ahmed Ali

Remember when you prayed to your Lord for help, He heard you and said: "I shall send a thousand angels following behind you for your aid."

Ahmed Raza Khan

When you (Prophet Mohammed – peace and blessings be upon him) were seeking the help of your Lord, so He answered your prayers that, “I will help you with a row of thousands of angels.”

Ali Quli Qarai

When you appealed to your Lord for help, He answered you: ‘I will aid you with a thousand angels in a file.’

Ali Ünal

When you were imploring your Lord for help (as a special mercy), and He responded to you: "I will help you with a thousand angels, coming host after host."

Amatul Rahman Omar

(Recall the time) when you (O Companions of the Prophet!) implored your Lord to aid you in distress, and He responded to you (saying), `I shall reinforce you with a thousand of the angels coming in continuous succession.´

English Literal

If/when you seek/ask for help (from) your Lord, so He answered/replied to you: "That I (am) extending/spreading you with one thousand from the angels following/riding closely behind."

Faridul Haque

When you (Prophet Mohammed - peace and blessings be upon him) were seeking the help of your Lord, so He answered your prayers that, "I will help you with a row of thousands of angels."

Hamid S. Aziz

Remember when you asked for succour from your Lord, and He answered you, "I will assist you with a thousand angels, in many ranks."

Hilali & Khan

(Remember) when you sought help of your Lord and He answered you (saying): "I will help you with a thousand of the angels each behind the other (following one another) in succession."

Maulana Mohammad Ali

That He might cause the Truth to triumph and bring the falsehood to naught, though the guilty disliked.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

When you sought aid from your Lord, so He answered you: I will assist you with a thousand of the angels following one another.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

When ye sought help of your Lord and He answered you (saying): I will help you with a thousand of the angels, rank on rank.

Muhammad Sarwar

When you (believers) begged for assistance from your Lord, He said, "I am helping you with a thousand angels, all in rows marching one after the other".

Qaribullah & Darwish

And when you (Prophet Muhammad) prayed to your Lord for help, He answered: 'I am sending to your aid a thousand angels in succession'

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

(Remember) when you sought help of your Lord and He answered you (saying): "I will help you with a thousand of the angels Murdifin."

Wahiduddin Khan

When you prayed to your Lord for help, He answered, "I am sending to your aid a thousand angels in succession."

Talal Itani

When you appealed to your Lord for help, He answered you, “I am reinforcing you with one thousand angels in succession.”

Tafsir jalalayn

When you sought help from your Lord, asking Him to help you by granting you victory over them, and He answered you [saying]; `I shall reinforce you, I shall assist you, with a thousand angels, rank upon rank', one rank following after the next; God promised them this [number] at first, but it then became three thousand, and then five thousand, as stated in [srat] l `Imrn [Q. 3;124-125] (a variant reading [of alf, `thousand'] has the plural luf, `thousands', similar [in pattern] to aflus, `coins').

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

Muslims invoke Allah for Help, Allah sends the Angels to help Them

Allah said;

إِذْ تَسْتَغِيثُونَ رَبَّكُمْ فَاسْتَجَابَ لَكُمْ أَنِّي مُمِدُّكُم بِأَلْفٍ مِّنَ الْمَليِكَةِ مُرْدِفِينَ



(Remember) when you sought help of your Lord and He answered you (saying);"I will help you with a thousand of the angels Murdifin."

Al-Bukhari wrote in the book of battles (in his Sahih) under "Chapter; Allah's statement,
إِذْ تَسْتَغِيثُونَ رَبَّكُمْ فَاسْتَجَابَ لَكُمْ
((Remember) when you sought help of your Lord and He answered you) until,
فَإِنَّ اللّهَ شَدِيدُ الْعِقَابِ
(then verily, Allah is severe in punishment)" (8;9-13) that Ibn Mas`ud said,

"I was a witness to something that Al-Miqdad bin Al-Aswad did, that I would like more than almost anything else to have been the one who did it. Al-Miqdad came to the Prophet while he was invoking Allah against the idolators and proclaimed, `We will not say as the people of Musa said, "So go you and your Lord and fight you two."

Rather, we will fight to your right, to your left, before you and behind you.' I saw the Prophet's face beaming with pleasure because of what Al-Miqdad said to him."

Al-Bukhari next narrated from Ibn Abbas that on the day of Badr, the Prophet said,

اللَّهُمَّ أَنْشُدُكَ عَهْدَكَ وَوَعْدَكَ اللَّهُمَّ إِنْ شِيْتَ لَمْ تُعْبَد

O Allah! I invoke You for Your covenant and promise (victory). O Allah! If You decide so (cause our defeat), You will not be worshipped.

Abu Bakr held the Prophet's hand and said, "Enough."

The Prophet went out proclaiming,

سَيُهْزَمُ الْجَمْعُ وَيُوَلُّونَ الدُّبُر

Their multitude will be put to flight, and they will show their backs.

An-Nasa'i also collected this Hadith.

Allah's statement,
بِأَلْفٍ مِّنَ الْمَليِكَةِ مُرْدِفِينَ
(with a thousand of the angels Murdifin),

means, they follow each other in succession, according to Harun bin Hubayrah who narrated this from Ibn Abbas,

about,
مُرْدِفِينَ
(Murdifin), meaning each behind the other in succession.

Ali bin Abi Talhah Al-Walibi reported that Ibn Abbas said,

"Allah supported His Prophet and the believers with a thousand angels, five hundred under the leadership of Jibril on one side and five hundred under the leadership of Mika'il on another side."

Imams Abu Jafar bin Jarir At-Tabari and Muslim recorded that Ibn Abbas said that Umar said,

"While a Muslim man was pursuing an idolator (during the battle of Badr), he heard the sound of a whip above him and a rider saying, `Come, O Hayzum!' Then he looked at the idolator, who fell to the ground. When he investigated, he found that the idolator's nose had wound and his face torn apart, just as if he received a strike from a whip on it, and the entire face had turned green. The Ansari man came to the Messenger of Allah and told him what had happened and the Messenger replied,

صَدَقْتَ ذَلِكَ مِنْ مَدَدِ السَّمَاءِ الثَّالِثَة

You have said the truth, that was from the reinforcements from the third heaven.

The Muslims killed seventy (pagans) in that battle and captured another seventy.

Al-Bukhari also wrote a chapter in his Sahih about the participation of the angels in Badr. He collected a Hadith from Rifa`h bin Rafi Az-Zuraqi, who participated in Badr,

Jibril came to the Prophet and asked him, "How honored are those who participated in Badr among you?"

The Prophet said,

مِنْ أَفْضَلِ الْمُسْلِمِين

Among the best Muslims.

Jibril said, "This is the case with the angels who participated in Badr."

Al-Bukhari recorded this Hadith.

At-Tabarani also collected it in Al-Mu`jam Al-Kabir, but from Rafi` bin Khadij, which is an apparent mistake. The correct narration is from Rifa`h, as Al-Bukhari recorded it.

In the Two Sahihs, it is recorded that;

the Messenger of Allah said to Umar, when Umar suggested that the Prophet have Hatib bin Abi Balta`ah executed,

إِنَّهُ قَدْ شَهِدَ بَدْرًا وَمَا يُدْرِيكَ لَعَلَّ اللهَ قَدِ اطَّلَعَ عَلَى أَهْلِ بَدْرٍ فَقَالَ اعْمَلُوا مَا شِيْتُمْ فَقَدْ غَفَرْتُ لَكُم

He (Hatib) participated in Badr. How do you know that Allah has not looked at the people of Badr and proclaimed, `Do whatever you want, for I have forgiven you.'

Allah said next