And when it was established that they have no existence because they have no knowledge and no ability, and that they have no good fortune or blessing, neither for themselves nor for others, He established for Himself, glorified and exalted is He, what He deserves of the perfection that He bestows upon whom He wills of His servants whatever He wills. So He said: ﴿Blessed is He﴾, meaning He established a permanence that is accompanied by good fortune and blessing; there is no permanence except for Him. ﴿He who wills﴾, for there is no one to compel Him. ﴿He has made for you better than that﴾, meaning what they said in mockery; then He replaced it with His saying: ﴿Gardens﴾, in addition to one garden. ﴿Underneath which rivers flow﴾, meaning its land is springing with fountains, that is, in a place from which a river is intended to flow, so it remains lush, providing its owner with every need and does not require him to irrigate it.

And when the palace - which is the house of the builder - is not something in which permanence is established like the garden which has this description, He expressed it in the present tense to indicate renewal whenever there is a deficiency that undermines the definition of the palace. So He said: ﴿And He will make for you palaces﴾, meaning built houses in which you dwell with what befits them of grandeur and servants. Al-Baghawi said: The Arabs call every built house a palace.

And this expression is appropriate for Him, glorified and exalted is He, to make that for him in this world from what has shattered their backs, and they feared its consequences, so it facilitated their leadership, due to their knowledge that His messenger is capable of what He wills. But He, glorified and exalted is He, made him independent of that by supporting him with helpers, from angels, humans, and jinn, until their matter diminished, and their patience was exhausted. And He did not will, glorified and exalted is He, what He indicated in this noble verse in this fleeting world, and postponed it to the everlasting Hereafter. And He, glorified and exalted is He, offered him whatever He willed of that in this world, but he rejected it. Al-Baghawi narrated from the chain of Ibn al-Mubarak, and Al-Tirmidhi - and he said: It is good from Abu Umamah, may Allah be pleased with him, from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, who said: "My Lord offered me to make the valley of Mecca gold, and I said: No, O Lord! But let me be full one day and hungry one day, so when I am hungry, I will humble myself to You and call upon You, and when I am full, I will praise You and thank You."

And it was narrated from the chain of Abu al-Sheikh from Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, who said: The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "If I had willed, mountains of gold would have walked with me. An angel came to me whose height was equal to the Kaaba, and he said: Your Lord sends you greetings and says to you: If you wish, a prophet who is a servant, and if you wish, a prophet who is a king. So I looked at Gabriel, peace be upon him, and he indicated to me to be humble, so I said: A prophet who is a servant. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, thereafter did not eat reclining and said: 'I eat as a servant eats, and I sit as a servant sits.'

And it will come in Surah Saba when it says, "And We caused to flow for him a spring of molten copper" [Saba: 12]. This is not far from me that it may be indicated by the noble verse - even though it is in the style of condition - to what was opened to him, blessings and peace be upon him, from the gardens which there was nothing like them in the land of the Arabs when Allah opened for him Khaybar and the valley of the villages. He acted in that with his noble self and ate from it, and to what was opened for his companions after him from the lands of Persia and Rome, which have palaces and gardens that are unmatched. Therefore, he expressed in the gardens in the past tense, and in the palaces in the present tense. They were granted the treasures of Kisra ibn Hormuz. For it is fitting for the rank of kings that their indications are broader than their expressions. So when they mention something possible as a hypothesis, it is from their intention to create it. They love to suffice with gestures, and to rely on their hints more than they rely on the explicit statements of others. What is presumed from them is regarded as certain without others, and what is possible in their speech is like what is obligatory. So what do you think of the King of kings, who is capable of all things! He has directed, glorified and exalted is He, the address to the highest of people in understanding and the most abundant in knowledge. He has shown him, glorified and exalted is He, what will come of that after him in the Battle of the Trench.

Al-Bayhaqi narrated in the Signs of Prophethood from Amr ibn Awf al-Muzani, may Allah be pleased with him, that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, when he marked the trench to dig it, made every ten yards forty cubits. Salman al-Farsi, may Allah be pleased with him, was a strong man. The Emigrants and the Helpers differed about it. The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Salman is one of us, the people of the household." Then a white round rock came out for them. Amr said: It broke our iron. It was difficult for us, so we said: O Salman, go up to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and inform him of the news of this rock. So he informed him, and he, blessings and peace be upon him, took the pickaxe from Salman and struck it three times. Each strike split it, and he broke it on the third. With each strike, there was a flash that illuminated what was between the two sides of the city, as if there were a lamp in the depths of a dark house. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, proclaimed the takbir with each flash. Then he took Salman by the hand and ascended. Salman asked him, and he said to the people: Did you see what Salman is saying? They said: Yes! O Messenger of Allah! By our father and our mother! We saw you strike and a flash came out like a wave, and we saw you proclaiming the takbir; we see nothing other than that. He said: The first flash illuminated for me the palaces of al-Hira and the cities of Kisra as if they were the fangs of dogs. From the second, the red palaces from the land of Rome as if they were the fangs of dogs. From the third, the palaces of Sana'a as if they were the fangs of dogs. And Gabriel, peace be upon him, informed me that my nation will be victorious over them.

So the Muslims rejoiced and said: 'Praise be to Allah! A true promise that our victory is promised after the siege.' Then the factions emerged, and the Muslims said: 'This is what Allah and His Messenger promised us,' and it only increased them in faith and submission.

And the hypocrites said about that which Allah, the Most High, indicated in the Qur'an. Then Allah, the Most High, refuted the hypocrites and affirmed His Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him. His companions, may Allah be pleased with them, took all that was mentioned, and they overcame the entire kingdom of the Persians, Yemen, and most of the Romans. They gathered from the treasures of Kisra and Caesar what surpassed the siege. And indeed, he, blessings and peace be upon him, acted in that matter from that time with the actions of kings, for the promise of Allah has no contradiction in it. Rather, what is absent is greater than the presence of others, and His promise is more certain than the fulfillment of anything else.

So he, blessings and peace be upon him, gave Tamim ibn Aws al-Dari the city of the friend, peace be upon him, from the land of Sham from the kingdom of the Romans. And he gave Khuraim ibn Aws - who is called Shawil - the honor of the daughter of Abd al-Masih, son of Baqilah, from the captives of al-Hirah from the lands of Iraq from the kingdom of Persia. Each of them received what he was given at the opening, as known by those who have read the books of conquests during the time of the rightly guided caliphs, may Allah be pleased with them all.

In my view, this is what the noble verse indicated. Allah, the Most High, glorified His Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, from it and granted it to his companions, honoring them by removing the people of polytheism from him, and bestowing upon them this as a confirmation of His promise, and honoring His Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, by the victory of His allies and the increase of his nation. Many of those who were among those who said: 'What is this Messenger?' [Al-Furqan: 7] to the end of it were present. And he was capable of strengthening him with all of that before his death, but he did not do so because that was clearer in the matter. For his victory was contrary to how the people of the world are aided, without many visible soldiers, nor abundant wealth, nor conquering kings. Rather, the kings were against him, then they all became the least of things to him, at the hands of his companions after him and his loved ones.