Pour Upon Us Patience

In the end, four thousand remained with him. When they crossed to the other side of the river, and the ones left with Ṭālūt were only 4,000, that was another test for them. Allah (swt) says: they said, we have no power today against Jālūt and his soldiers. Four thousand — do you want us to fight Jālūt? Look at his army; there is no way.

The believers — qāla alladhīna yaẓunnūna annahum mulāqū Allāh, the ones who are sure that they are going to meet Allah — they said: kam min fiʾatin qalīlatin ghalabat fiʾatan kathīratan bi-idhni Allāh — how many times has a small group defeated a larger group by the will of Allah! It is not a matter of numbers. Who are these who are speaking? The ones who are sure that they will meet Allah. So they are not thinking in terms of this dunyā; they are thinking in terms of meeting Allah (swt). The others are telling them: no, let us be real; let us be real — four thousand against this huge army; there is no way we can win. They are thinking in terms of the logic of this world, of what they can see with their eyes. They say: I can see with my eyes a larger army; they can defeat us. They are not believing in the unseen. So now another group failed.

In the end, Ṭālūt was left with the pure, the best of the children of Israel: 314. Out of 80,000, 314 remained with Ṭālūt. It is narrated from the Companions of the Messenger of Allah that they said: we were told that the number of the fighters who were with Ṭālūt was the same as the number of those who fought in the battle of Badr — thalāthu miʾatin wa biḍʿata ʿashar, more than 310. These are the ones who remained with Ṭālūt out of 80,000. Ṭālūt took them through tests that would separate the men from the boys: take the strong on one side, and the weak and the unfit on the other; and in the end he was left with 310, or 314.

About these 314, Allah (swt) says: and when they faced Jālūt and his soldiers… Before that, Ṭālūt was taking them through tests to see how patient they were, how strong they were, how determined they were. But now, when they are facing the enemy, he puts all of that aside. It is not your strength; it is not your patience; it is not your will — all of these are means. Now it depends on Allah (swt). So we use the means before; you prepare with these means before the battle. But then, when you are on the battlefield, you do not depend on the means anymore; you depend on Allah (swt).

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) lined up the army and gave them instructions and orders at the battle of Badr. But then, when it was time for fighting, what did the Messenger of Allah do? He went on a hilltop and started making duʿāʾ. Now you put your whole dependency on Allah (swt).

At that moment, when they were facing Jālūt, what did they say? Qālū rabbanā afrigh ʿalaynā ṣabrā. Now they are directing their call to Allah: O Allah, shower us — cover us — with patience. Allāhu akbar. They are not asking for patience; they are saying: afrigh ʿalaynā ṣabrā — O Allah, cover us with patience. Because you do not need a little bit of patience; you do not need a small amount; you need a lot. So they said: afrigh ʿalaynā. Ifrāgh is like having a big bucket and pouring it over someone; that is ifrāgh. Afrigh ʿalaynā ṣabrā — pour patience over us. Wa thabbit aqdāmanā — and make our feet firm. Wa unṣurnā ʿalā al-qawmi al-kāfirīn — and give us victory over the non-believers.