His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿Certainly Allah has helped you in many places and on the Day of Hunayn when your great number pleased you, but it did not avail you at all, and the earth became constricted for you despite its vastness. Then you turned back, fleeing.﴾ ﴿Then Allah sent down His tranquility upon His Messenger and upon the believers, and He sent down armies you did not see, and He punished those who disbelieved. And that is the reward of the disbelievers.﴾ ﴿Then Allah will turn in mercy after that upon whom He wills. And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.﴾

This is an address to all the believers. Allah enumerates His blessings upon them. "Mawatin" is the plural of "mawatin" with the ta' being broken, and "mawatin" means the place of residence or settlement, as it is the first place of residence. The mentioned "mawatins" are Badr, the Trench, the Banu Nadir, and the Banu Qurayza. "Mawatins" is not declined because it is a plural and the end of a plural. And "yawm" is connected to the place of His saying: "in the mawatin" or to a word implied: "and on the day of," so the preposition was omitted. And "Hunayn" is a valley between Mecca and Ta'if, close to Dhul-Majaz. It was declined when it was intended as the location and place, and if it had been intended as the area, it would not have been declined, as the poet said:

They supported their Prophet and strengthened his resolve ∗∗∗ at Hunayn on the day of the gathering of the heroes.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿When your great number pleased you﴾, it has been narrated that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said when he saw his army of twelve thousand: "We will not be defeated today due to our small number." It has also been narrated that a man from his companions said it, and Allah intended to show weakness, so it became evident when the people fled. Then destiny turned with His victory.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And the earth became constricted for you despite its vastness﴾ means: due to how vast it is, because of the severity of the situation and its difficulties, so "ma" is a source.

And His saying: ﴿Then you turned back, fleeing﴾ means the fleeing of the people from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

The summary of this story is that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, when he conquered Mecca, was with ten thousand of his companions. Two thousand of the freed captives joined him, making it twelve thousand. The disbelievers of the Arabs heard about this, and it was difficult for them. Hawazin and their allies gathered against him, led by Malik ibn Awf al-Nasri, and Thaqif, led by Abd Yalil ibn Amr. Mixed groups of people joined them until they numbered thirty thousand. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, went out to meet them until they gathered at Hunayn. When the people lined up, the polytheists charged from the sides of the valley, and the Muslims were defeated. Qatadah said: It is said that the freed captives from the people of Mecca fled and aimed to cause defeat among the Muslims. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, was on a gray mule. Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Fihri said: I was with the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, that day. He was on a horse surrounded by his uncle Abbas and his cousin Abu Sufyan ibn al-Harith ibn Abd al-Muttalib. In front of him was Ayman ibn Umm Ayman - may Allah have mercy on him. When the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, saw the severity of the situation, he dismounted from his mule to the ground - as narrated by Al-Bara ibn Azib - and sought help from Allah, the Mighty and Majestic. He took a handful of dirt and pebbles and threw them at the faces of the disbelievers, saying: 'May the faces be disfigured.' Abu Abd al-Rahman said: He leaned down from his horse, took a handful of dirt, and the angels descended to support him. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, called out: 'O supporters!' The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, commanded Abbas to call out: 'Where are the companions of the tree? Where are the companions of Surah Al-Baqarah?' The people returned as one group, and the polytheists were defeated. Ya'la ibn Ata said: Their children narrated to me from their fathers, saying: 'None of us remained except that dirt entered his eyes.' The full account of this story is in the book of the biographies.

The apparent statement of Al-Nahhas is that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, was with fourteen thousand, and this is incorrect. His saying: 'Fleeing' is in the accusative case as a confirming state, similar to his saying: 'And it is the truth confirming' [Al-Baqarah: 91], and the confirming state is that which is indicated by what precedes it, just as the indication of turning away is upon fleeing.

And His saying, exalted is He: "Then Allah sent down His tranquility". The word "Then" here is in its proper place of arrangement. And tranquility is the victory to which the souls have settled and the state is with it. The reference to the believers is to the supporters, as has been narrated. And that is because "the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, called out on that day: 'O gathering of the supporters.'" So they turned back while they had repelled the defeat. And the troops are the angels and the terror. Abu Hajir Yazid ibn Amir said: "There was in our insides a feeling like the strike of a stone in a basin from the terror." And the punishment of those who disbelieved is the killing that prevailed among them and the captivity that took hold of their offspring. Malik ibn Awf al-Nasri had brought out the people with their families and offspring to fight for them. Duraid ibn al-Simmah criticized him for that and said to Malik ibn Awf: "Shepherd of sheep, will anything stop the one who is defeated?" And on that day, Duraid ibn al-Simmah was killed, the famous killer, by Rabi' ibn Rafi' ibn Uhbaan al-Silmi, and it is said he was the son of al-Dughinnah.

And His saying, exalted is He: "Then Allah will turn in mercy after that upon whom He wills" is an announcement that whoever among the disbelievers who survived that day and then embraced Islam and repented, they are accepted as Muslims and are promised forgiveness and mercy.