Surah 8. Al-Anfal, Ayah 10

"On the day of the battle of Badr, the Prophet looked at his followers, who were three hundred-odd men, and he looked at those who were ascribing divinity to beings other than God: and lo, they were more than one thousand. Thereupon God's Prophet turned towards the qiblah, raised his hands and thus implored his Sustainer: 'O God! Fulfil what Thou hast promised me! O God! If this little band of those who have surrendered themselves unto Thee is destroyed, Thou wilt not be worshipped on earth...'." This authentic Tradition, quoted by Muslim, Abu Da'ud, Tirmidhi, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, etc., appears also in a very similar version in Bukhari's Sahih. It is said that the above Our'an-verse was revealed in response to the Prophet's prayer - whereupon he recited another, much earlier verse ( 54:45 ): "The hosts shall be routed, and shall turn their backs [in flight]" (Bukhari). - As regards the promise of aid through thousands of angels, see {3:124-125}, where a similar promise - made on the occasion of the battle of Uhud - is said to have been uttered by the Prophet and thus, by implication, confirmed by God. The spiritual nature of this angelic aid is clearly expressed by the words, "and God ordained this only as a glad tiding...", etc. (See also surah {3}, notes [93] and [94].)

All help comes ultimately from Allah. In special cases it may take special forms to put heart into us, and to fit in with our feelings and our psychology.