سورة الأنفال

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Muhammad ibn Yusuf said: My father informed me and said: I asked Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): "[What is meant by] this verse: إِذْ یُوحِی رَبُّکَ إِلَی المَلآئِکَةِ أَنِّی مَعَکُمْ [When your Lord revealed to the angels: I am with you]?" He said: "Inspiration (ilham)."

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): The angel would come in the form of a person whom the Muslims recognized, in order to make them firm, and would say [to them]: "I have drawn near to the polytheists and heard them saying [to one another]: 'If the Muslims charge upon us, we have no strength to resist them, and the polytheists are but few in number, so charge upon them' [and in this way he would raise the Muslims' spirits]." As Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: إِذْ یُوحی رَبُّکَ إِلَی المَلائِکَةِ أَنِّی مَعَکُمْ فَثَبِّتُوا الَّذینَ آمَنُوا سَأُلْقی فی قُلُوبِ الَّذینَ کَفَرُوا الرُّعْبَ فَاضْرِبُوا فَوْقَ الْأَعْناقِ وَ اضْرِبُوا مِنْهُمْ کُلَّ بَنانٍ [When your Lord revealed to the angels: I am with you, therefore make firm those who believe. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them].

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said to Ammar Yasir and Abdullah ibn Mas'ud: "Go among the polytheists and bring us news of their condition." These two roamed through the camp of the polytheists and saw none but a group who were fearful and terrified, so that whenever a horse neighed [out of the intensity of their fear] they would leap upon its mouth [to prevent it from neighing]. In that state they heard Munabbih ibn al-Hajjaj reciting: "Hunger has left us no rest; we must either die or be killed." By Allah! They were full-fed, but out of [the intensity of] fear they uttered these [words], and Allah had cast terror and dread into their hearts, as Allah the Blessed and Exalted has said: سَأُلْقِی فِی قُلُوبِ الَّذِینَ کَفَرُوا الرُّعْبَ [I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve].

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): What is meant by وَ اضْرِبُوا مِنْهُمْ کُلَّ بَنانٍ [and strike off every fingertip of them] is the tips of the fingers.

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him), regarding إِذْ یُوحِی رَبُّکَ, says: "Iblis, in the guise of Suraqa [ibn Malik ibn Ju'shum], came to the aid of the polytheists; [but] when he noticed the presence of Jibra'il, Mika'il, Israfil, and the other angels, he turned back on his heels and said: I am free of you [my friends and followers]. (Anfal/48) [At that time] the angels were striking above the necks and the fingertips with their maces, and the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) threw a handful of pebbles toward the polytheists and said: 'May your faces be disfigured!' And these pebbles struck the eye of every one of the polytheists, and as a result they were defeated."