When the people of Mecca were defeated, killed, and captured, they began to boast. The one who spoke would say: I killed and captured. When Quraysh appeared, the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: Here comes Quraysh. Mahmoud said: 'When Quraysh came, he, blessings and peace be upon him, said: Here comes Quraysh... etc.' Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, clarified the evidence in distinguishing between reality and metaphor. Do you not see that you say to the dullard: He is not a donkey, and it is true that your statement about him, in a figurative sense, is that he is a donkey? If it is established that one of the characteristics of metaphor is that its negation is true, unlike reality, then understand that this verse refutes the faces of the Qadariyyah. This is because Allah, glorified and exalted is He, affirmed action for creation and denied it from them. There is no interpretation for this except that its affirmation for them is metaphorical, while the doer and creator in reality is Allah, glorified and exalted is He. So, He affirmed it for them metaphorically and denied it from them in reality. And beware of following the twisted interpretation of al-Zamakhshari regarding this verse, for it is a crooked view, and false and misleading. The truth is clear, and Allah is the one who grants success by His grace. They boast and pride themselves while denying Your messengers. O Allah, I ask You for what You promised me. Then Gabriel, peace be upon him, came to him and said: Take a handful of dust and throw it at them. When the two groups met, Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, said: Give me a handful of pebbles from the valley. He threw it at their faces and said: May the faces be disfigured. Not a single polytheist remained except that he was preoccupied with his eyes. They were defeated, and the believers followed them, killing and capturing them. The commentator al-Taybi said: None of the hadith scholars mentioned that this throwing occurred at Badr, then the hadith of Salamah ibn al-Akwa.

He said: We fought alongside the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, at Hunayn, and he mentioned the story. This is an unapproved commentary. Al-Waqidi narrated in Al-Maghazi from Ibn Abi Zahri from Al-Zuhri from Urwah ibn Al-Zubair who said, "When the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, saw Quraysh, he mentioned something similar until he said: 'What You promised me.'" Al-Tabari narrated from another source from Hisham ibn Urwah from Urwah who said, "When the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, arrived at Badr, he claimed that he said: 'This is Quraysh, they have come with their arrogance and pride to argue and lie to Your Messenger. O Allah, I ask You for what You promised me.' When they approached, they fought fiercely, and Allah defeated them." Al-Tabari also narrated from the narration of Ali ibn Abi Talhah who said, "The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, raised his hand on the day of Badr and said: 'O Lord, if You destroy this group, we will never worship You on earth again.' Gabriel commanded him to take a handful of dust and throw it in their faces. There was not a single one of the polytheists except that dust struck his eyes, nostrils, and mouth. They turned away in retreat." He also has from the path of Asbat from Al-Suddi that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said to Ali on the day of Badr: 'Give me some pebbles from the ground.' He handed him a stone with dust on it, and he threw it in the faces of the people, and there was not a polytheist left except that dust entered his eye. Then the Muslims followed them, killing and capturing them. And Allah revealed: 'And you did not kill them, but Allah killed them' - the verse. Al-Waqidi also narrated in Al-Maghazi from the path of Hakim ibn Hizam in the story of Badr that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, stood up, took a handful of pebbles, threw them at them, and said: 'May the faces be disfigured.' There was not one of them left except that his face and eyes were filled, and the enemies of Allah fled, while the Muslims killed and captured them. Al-Tabari reported it from another source from Hakim ibn Hizam similarly, but without what is at the end. Thus, it was said to them: 'And you did not kill them,' and the 'fa' is the answer to a conditional omitted, meaning: If you boast about killing them, then you did not kill them, but Allah killed them, for He is the One who sent down the angels and cast terror into their hearts, and willed victory and triumph, and strengthened your hearts, and removed fear and anxiety from them. 'And you did not throw, O Muhammad, when you threw, but Allah threw.' This means that the throw you threw was not truly thrown by you, for if you had thrown it, its effect would not have reached beyond what the effect of a human throw would reach. But it was Allah's throw, as it had that great effect. Thus, the throw is attributed to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, because its form was found from him, and it is denied from him because its effect, which humans cannot bear, was the action of Allah, glorified and exalted is He. It is as if Allah is the true doer of the throw, and as if it did not originate from the Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him, at all. And it was read: 'But Allah killed them.' But Allah threw, with the lightening of 'but' and raising what follows it. 'And to test the believers and to give them a good reward.' Zuhair said: 'So He rewarded them with the best of the tests that He tests.' [May Allah reward with goodness what they did to you... And He tested them with the best of the tests that He tests.] He says: Allah rewarded them with His goodness for what they did to you of goodness. And 'ablah' implies the meaning of 'gave.' It is said: 'Balah Allah' and 'ablah' and 'ibtala,' meaning 'He tested him.' The name is 'al-bala.' It can mean both punishment and blessing as here. And He gave them the best of His blessings that people are tested and examined by giving it to them. And the meaning is: And for the goodness to the believers, He did what He did, and He did nothing except for that. Indeed, Allah is All-Hearing of their supplication, All-Knowing of their conditions.