Tafsir of Al-Anfal 8:19

{If you seek the victory, then the victory has come to you} This is an address to the people of Mecca by way of mockery. When they set out to march, they clung to the curtains of the Kaaba and said: "O God, grant victory to the one who is most generous to guests, most observant of kinship ties, and most helpful to the captive. If Muhammad is in the right, grant him victory; if we are in the right, grant us victory."

It is narrated that they said: "O God, grant victory to the superior of the two armies, the most guided of the two factions, and the most noble of the two parties."

It is also narrated that Abu Jahl said on the day of Badr: "O God, whichever of us has been more abusive and more severing of kinship ties, destroy him today"—meaning, annihilate him.

It is also said: {If you seek the victory} is an address to the believers, and {If you desist} is an address to the disbelievers—meaning: if you desist from showing hostility toward the Messenger of God (peace be upon him), {it is better for you} and safer. {But if you return} to fighting him, {We will return} to granting him victory over you. {And your faction will not avail you anything, even if it is numerous; and that God...}

• It is read with fath (an-na) based on the meaning: "And because God is the helper of the believers, that [victory] occurred."
• It is also read with kasr (in-na).
• These are the various interpretations, supported by the reading of Ibn Mas'ud: "And God is with the believers."
• It is also read as wa-lan yughniya (in the third person, with a ya) due to the separation [between the verb and the subject].

{O you who have believed, obey God and His Messenger and do not turn away from him while you are hearing. And do not be like those who say, "We have heard," while they do not hear. Indeed, the worst of living creatures in the sight of God are the deaf and the dumb who do not use reason. If God had known any good in them, He would have made them hear. And if He had made them hear, they would have turned away, while they were refusing.}