Surah 9. Al-Tawba, Ayah 120

In its original construction, this sentence reads thus: "and neither thirst afflicts them..., nor do they take any step..., nor do they get from the enemy..., without that a good deed is recorded in their behalf". The same construction is applied to the next verse.

Although this and the following verses relate, on the face of it, to "the people of the Prophet's City" (see note [133] above) and to "the bedouin who live around them", their purport is obviously general, and applies to all believers at all times. The specific reference to "the Prophet's City" is due to the fact that it was the place where the revelation of the Qur'an was completed and Islam came to its full fruition under the Prophet's guidance.

Lit., "causes wrath to".

Lit., "[whenever] they get from the enemy whatever they get" - i.e., victory or death or injury.

Again, the illustration is that of Tabuk, but the lesson is general. We must not hold our own comfort or lives dearer than that of our leader, nor desert him in the hour of danger. If we have true devotion, we shall hold our own lives or comfort cheap in comparison to his. But whatever service we render to the Cause of Allah, and whatever sufferings, hardships, or injuries we endure, or whatever resources we spend for the Cause,-all goes to raise our degree in the spiritual world. Nothing is lost. Our reward is far greater in worth than any little service we can render, or any little hardship we can suffer, or any little contributions we can make to the Cause. We "painfuly attain to joy".