Tafsir of Al-Ahzab 33:9

{Remember} the favor God bestowed upon you on the Day of the Confederates (al-Ahzab), which is the Day of the Trench (al-Khandaq).

{When they came to you from above you and from below you} They are the Confederates. God sent against them the East Wind (al-Saba). The Messenger of God (peace be upon him) said: "I was granted victory by the East Wind, and ‘Ad was destroyed by the West Wind."

{And hosts you did not see} They are the angels, numbering one thousand. God sent upon them a cold East Wind on a wintry night, which caused them to shiver and blew sand into their faces. He commanded the angels, so they uprooted the tent pegs, severed the ropes, extinguished the fires, overturned the cooking pots, and caused the horses to collide with one another. Terror was cast into their hearts, and the angels shouted "Allahu Akbar" around the edges of their camp.

Tulayha ibn Khuwaylid al-Asadi said: "Muhammad has begun to bewitch you, so flee! Flee!" They retreated without a fight.

When the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) heard of their approach, he dug a trench around Medina, as suggested by Salman al-Farisi (may God be pleased with him). He went out with three thousand Muslims, setting up his camp with the trench between him and the enemy. He ordered the women and children to be moved into the fortresses. Fear intensified, and the believers were tested with a severe trial. Hypocrisy emerged from the hypocrites, to the point that Mu‘attib ibn Qushayr said: "Muhammad promised us the treasures of Chosroes and Caesar, yet now we cannot even go to the latrine."

The Quraysh had arrived with ten thousand men, including the Ahabish, Banu Kinana, and the people of Tihama, led by Abu Sufyan. Ghatafan came with one thousand, along with their followers from Najd, led by ‘Uyayna ibn Hisn. ‘Amir ibn al-Tufayl came with Hawazin, joined by the Jews of Qurayza and Nadir. Nearly a month passed between the two parties with no fighting except for the exchange of arrows and stones, until God sent victory.

{You see} Read with both ta and ya.

{From above you} From the upper part of the valley in the East: the tribe of Ghatafan.

{And from below you} From the lower part of the valley in the West: the Quraysh. They had confederated, saying: "We shall be one body until we eradicate Muhammad."

{The eyes grew wild} They deviated from their normal focus and level of sight due to bewilderment and staring. It is said: they turned away from everything, unable to look at anything but their enemy due to the intensity of the terror.

{And the hearts reached the throats} The hanjara (throat) is the top of the larynx, the end of the windpipe. The hulqum is the passage for food and drink. It is said that when the lungs swell from extreme fear, anger, or grief, the heart rises with them to the top of the throat. Hence, it is said of a coward: "His sihr (lung/heart area) has swollen." It may also be a metaphor for the agitation and pounding of the hearts, even if they do not literally reach the throats.

{And you were assuming about God [various] assumptions} This is addressed to the believers. Among them were those firm in heart and foot; the weak-hearted who were on the edge of faith; and the hypocrites whose faith existed only on their tongues. The first group assumed God was testing and trying them, so they feared slipping and the weakness of their endurance. As for the others, they assumed what has been narrated about them.

Al-Hasan said: They had different assumptions. The hypocrites assumed the Muslims would be eradicated, while the believers assumed they were being tested.

Al-Zunun (the assumptions) is read without an alif in both connection and pause, which is the standard rule. The alif is added in the pause for the sake of the rhyme, just as it is added in poetry (e.g., aqilli al-lawma ‘adhila wa al-‘itaba). It is also read with the alif in connection, treating it like a pause. Abu ‘Ubayd said: "All of them are written in the Imam [Uthmanic codex] with an alif."

Abu ‘Amr read zulzilu (they were shaken) with an ishmam (a subtle vowel sound) of the zay. It is also read as zilzalan (with a fatha). The meaning is that fear disturbed them with the most intense disturbance.