Tafsir for verse: 8:7
وَإِذۡ يَعِدُكُمُ ٱللَّهُ إِحۡدَى ٱلطَّآئِفَتَيۡنِ أَنَّهَا لَكُمۡ وَتَوَدُّونَ أَنَّ غَيۡرَ ذَاتِ ٱلشَّوۡكَةِ تَكُونُ لَكُمۡ وَيُرِيدُ ٱللَّهُ أَن يُحِقَّ ٱلۡحَقَّ بِكَلِمَٰتِهِۦ وَيَقۡطَعَ دَابِرَ ٱلۡكَٰفِرِينَ ٧ ﴿7
7And recall when Allah was promising you that one of the two groups would become yours, and you were wishing that the one without strength should fall to you. And Allah wanted to establish the truth through His words and to cut off the very root of the disbelievers,
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Commentary

The word 'idh' is accusative due to the implied 'remember.' And 'an-naha lakum' is a substitute for one of the two groups. The two groups are: the caravan and the army. The caravan is not of the type with strength, because it contained only forty horsemen, while the strength was in the army due to their number and equipment. The term 'strength' refers to sharpness, borrowed from the singular of thorns. It is said: 'the thorns of the spear' for their sharpness. Among them is their saying: 'the weapon is thorny,' meaning you wish that the caravan would be yours, because it is the group that has no strength or intensity, and you do not want the other group to establish the truth and elevate it with His words through His revealed signs in fighting those of strength, and by what He commanded the angels regarding their descent for support, and by what He decreed of their capture, killing, and throwing them into the well of Badr. The term 'daber' is derived from 'dabara,' meaning to turn away. From it comes 'daber of the bird.' Cutting off the daber refers to complete annihilation, meaning you desire immediate benefit and trivial matters. And Allah, the Exalted, desires lofty matters, what pertains to the establishment of religion, the support of truth, the elevation of the word, and success in both abodes. And there is a great difference between the two desires. Therefore, He chose for you the group of strength, and broke their power with your weakness, and overcame their multitude with your fewness, and honored you while humiliating them, and granted you what does not oppose the lower caravan and what it contains. And it was read: 'with His word,' in the singular.

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Al-ZamakhshariAbū al-Qāsim Maḥmūd ibn ʿUmar al-Zamakhsharī
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