Meccan, except for verse 17 which is Medinan, and its verses are 60. [Revealed after the splitting] 'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.'

The well-known reading is 'ghulibat' with a Dhammah on the ghain. And 'sayaghlibun' with a Fathah on the ya. And 'the land' refers to the land of the Arabs, because the known land to the Arabs is their land. The meaning is: they were defeated in the nearest land of the Arabs to them, which is the outskirts of Syria. Or he meant their land, by substituting the lam for the genitive case, meaning: in the nearest land of theirs to their enemy. Mujahid said: It is the land of the island, which is the nearest land of the Romans to Persia. And Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: It is Jordan and Palestine. And it was read: 'in adna al-ard.'

And 'al-bud' is what is between three and ten according to al-Asma'i. It was said: The Romans and Persians fought between Aderaat and Busra, and Persia defeated the Romans. The news reached Mecca and it distressed the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and the Muslims. [[This was narrated by Sunayd ibn Abi Dawood in his tafsir: Hajjaj ibn Muhammad al-A'war told me from Abu Bakr ibn Abdullah from Ikrimah who said, 'There was in Persia a woman who only gave birth to champions. So Khosrow called her and said,

Sources such as al-jalb and al-halb, and al-halb and al-halb. And it was read: 'Ghalabat al-Rum' with a fatha. And 'Sayaghliboon' with a dhamma. Its meaning is that the Romans overcame the countryside of Sham, and the Muslims will overcome them in a few years. At the end of this period, the Muslims began to strive against the Romans. The addition of 'ghalabahum' differs according to the two readings; in one, it is the addition of the source to the object, and in the other, it is the addition to the subject. An example of them is 'Muharramun 'alaykum ikhrajuhum' and 'Walan yukhlifa Allahu wa'dah.' If you say: How is the fighting valid when it is gambling? I say: According to Qatadah, may Allah have mercy on him, this was before the prohibition of gambling. And from the school of Abu Hanifah and Muhammad: that invalid contracts, such as those of usury and others, are permissible in the land of war between Muslims and disbelievers. They have argued for the validity of this by what Abu Bakr contracted with Ubayy ibn Khalaf before and after, meaning at the beginning of both times and at their end when they overcame and when they will overcome, as if it were said: from before they were dominant, which is the time they were dominated. And from after they were dominated, which is the time they were dominant, meaning that their being dominated first and dominant later is only by the command of Allah and His decree. 'And those days We alternate among the people.' And it was read: 'Min qabl wa min ba'd' in the genitive without an implied addition and its cutting off. As if it were said: 'Qabl wa ba'd' meaning first and last. 'And on that day' and the day the Romans overcome the Persians and the fulfillment of what Allah, the Exalted, promised them of their overcoming, the believers will rejoice in the victory of Allah and His granting victory to those who have a Book over those who do not have a Book. And there is a vexation for those who mocked them from the disbelievers of Mecca. And it was said: The victory of Allah is the manifestation of the truthfulness of the believers in what they informed the polytheists of the overcoming of the Romans. And it was said that the victory of Allah is that He appointed some of the oppressors over others and caused division among them, until they perished and diminished. And 'These are the strength of these.' In that is strength for Islam. And from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri: this coincided with the day of Badr, and on this day the believers were victorious. 'And He is the Mighty, the Merciful' who grants you victory at one time and grants you victory at another.