Appearance
Sūrah al-Tawbah, verse 40
إِلَّا تَنصُرُوهُ فَقَدْ نَصَرَهُ اللَّهُ إِذْ أَخْرَجَهُ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا ثَانِىَ ٱثْنَيْنِ إِذْ هُمَا فِى ٱلْغَارِ إِذْ يَقُولُ لِصَـٰحِبِهِۦ لَا تَحْزَنْ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ مَعَنَا ۖ فَأَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ سَكِينَتَهُۥ عَلَيْهِ وَأَيَّدَهُۥ بِجُنُودٍۢ لَّمْ تَرَوْهَا وَجَعَلَ كَلِمَةَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا ٱلسُّفْلَىٰ ۗ وَكَلِمَةُ ٱللَّهِ هِىَ ٱلْعُلْيَا ۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ 40
Illā tanṣurūhu faqad naṣarahu Allāhu idh akhrajahu alladhīna kafarū thāniya ithnayn, idh humā fī al-ghār, idh yaqūlu li-ṣāḥibihi: lā taḥzan inna Allāha maʿanā. Fa-anzala Allāhu sakīnatahu ʿalayhi, wa ayyadahu bijunūdin lam tarawhā, wa jaʿala kalimata alladhīna kafarū as-suflā, wa kalimatu Allāhi hiya al-ʿulyā, wa Allāhu ʿazīzun ḥakīm.
If you do not help him, Allah has already helped him when the faithless expelled him, and he was one of the two, when the two were in the cave, he said to his companion, ‘Do not grieve; Allah is indeed with us.’ Then Allah sent down His composure upon him, and strengthened him with hosts you did not see, and He made the word of the faithless the lowest, and the word of Allah is the highest; and Allah is all-mighty, all-wise.
Context and significance
This verse captures one of the most critical and vulnerable moments in the Prophet’s mission: the Hijrah from Mecca to Medina. Pursued by the Quraysh, the Prophet and his sole companion took refuge in a cave, apparently powerless against their enemies who were searching close by. Yet in that moment of exposure, Allah (s.w.t.) assured His Messenger of divine protection, declaring that “Allah is indeed with us,” and surrounding him with unseen hosts to safeguard the mission.
The verse raises a number of profound questions for study. What is the deeper meaning of divine sakīnah (tranquility) descending in this moment, and to whom was it directed? How should we understand the Prophet’s reassurance to his companion, “Do not grieve; Allah is indeed with us”? Why does the verse stress that “the word of the disbelievers” was made the lowest, while “the word of Allah” was raised supreme? And most importantly, what does this episode reveal about the source of the Prophet’s victory: was it human support and strategy, or the decisive aid of God alone?
Placed within the broader discourse of Sūrah al-Tawbah, which repeatedly contrasts the schemes of disbelievers with the sovereignty of divine will, this verse stands as a timeless reminder of where true strength lies. At the moment when the Prophet was most outwardly vulnerable, divine aid transformed weakness into triumph, making the cave of concealment a symbol of God’s protection and the ultimate supremacy of His word.t also a living standard for every believer: true success lies in following the pioneers of faith, but always with excellence.
What the exegetes say
At a glance
The question: On whom did God's sakīnah descend in the cave: the Prophet, or his companion Abū Bakr?
Al-QurṭubīInclines to Abū Bakr, following Ibn al-ʿArabī, since the Prophet was already firm and Abū Bakr was the one afraid; treats this as further testimony to Abū Bakr's unique merit.
Ibn KathīrReports both views, the Prophet and Abū Bakr, without choosing; his emphasis falls instead on the tranquility and unseen angels as proof that Allah's help needs no human aid.
Al-ṬabarsīReports that most exegetes take it as descending on the Prophet and some on Abū Bakr, without settling the matter; his emphasis falls on divine help that does not depend on numbers.
ʿAllāmah ṬabāṭabāʾīThe Prophet alone: every pronoun in the verse refers to him, so 'upon him' and the unseen hosts cannot shift to Abū Bakr; 9:26 and 48:26 show the Prophet also received sakīnah.
How each exegete answers the question, in one line. Click a name to read his reading in full.
Al-Qurṭubī
In his exegesis of verse , al-Qurṭubī presents it as both a reminder and a reproach. It was revealed in the aftermath of the expedition to Tabūk, where some hesitated to support the Prophet (s.a.w.). God asserts that even if people fail in their duty, His help is never withdrawn. He had already aided His Messenger in times of extreme vulnerability, most strikingly during the Hijra, when the Prophet and Abū Bakr sought refuge in the cave of Thawr.
Al-Qurṭubī narrates the historical setting in detail. Quraysh, alarmed by the Prophet’s migration, conspired to assassinate him, surrounding his house by night. God caused their eyes to be veiled, and the Prophet escaped, leaving ʿAlī in his bed. He had agreed with Abū Bakr to depart together, and they entrusted their mounts to Ibn Uraiqiṭ, a pagan yet reliable guide, showing that trust and contracts with non-Muslims are valid when based on honesty. They entered the cave of Thawr, where Abū Bakr’s son brought news, his servant tended sheep to erase their tracks, and his daughter delivered provisions. Quraysh trackers pursued them to the mouth of the cave, but God shielded them—spiders spun webs and a dove settled with its nest, convincing the pursuers no one could be inside.
From this episode al-Qurṭubī extracts important lessons. He affirms the legitimacy of concealing oneself from danger, for the Prophet did not simply expose himself but took precautions. It is also lawful to employ or entrust non-Muslims in times of necessity if they are dependable. More profoundly, it demonstrates the mysterious yet decisive aid of God: fragile creatures like a spider or a dove became His armies, proving that what seems weak in appearance can be overpowering in reality.
A central theme in the verse is the exalted station of Abū Bakr. The Qur’an itself calls him the Prophet’s companion and records the Prophet’s words to him: “Do not grieve; indeed Allah is with us.” Al-Qurṭubī states that denying Abū Bakr’s companionship is to reject the Qur’an itself. His grief, far from being blameworthy, was a natural human concern for the Prophet’s safety. Just as earlier prophets like Ibrāhīm, Mūsā, and Lūṭ experienced fear or sadness without this diminishing their rank, so too Abū Bakr’s emotion is not a flaw. Indeed, it arose from his deep love for the Messenger and his fear that harm might reach him.
This brings al-Qurṭubī to the phrase: {Then Allah sent down His tranquility upon him}. Scholars differed whether this tranquility—sakīnah—descended upon the Prophet or upon Abū Bakr. Some argued it referred to the Prophet, but al-Qurṭubī records that many scholars, including Ibn al-ʿArabī, favored the opinion that it descended upon Abū Bakr. He inclines towards this view, reasoning that the Prophet was already firm and assured, while Abū Bakr was the one who experienced fear. God calmed his heart through the Prophet’s reassurance and then fortified him with divine tranquility. Thus his anxiety was transformed into serenity, and he was strengthened to continue standing at the Prophet’s side. For al-Qurṭubī, this is a further testimony to Abū Bakr’s unique merit.
The verse also had political resonance in later Muslim thought. Some scholars cited it as an indication of Abū Bakr’s right to succeed the Prophet: just as he was the “second of two” in the cave, he became the Prophet’s successor in leading the ummah. Al-Qurṭubī even relates that some scholars saw the phrase “second of two” as an allusion to the caliphate, since the leader after the Prophet must necessarily be “second.” Indeed, after the Prophet’s death, when tribes across Arabia fell into apostasy, Abū Bakr upheld Islam with the same resolve, thus mirroring the Prophet’s own struggle.
The verse closes with the statement that God made the word of the disbelievers lowest, while His word is supreme. Al-Qurṭubī interprets this either as the declaration of tawḥīd (lā ilāha illa Allāh) or as the promise of divine victory. In either case, the message is clear: God’s support is unshakable, His aid may come through means hidden or manifest, and His decree is ever supreme.
Source: Al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qur’ān (Tafsīr al-Qurṭubī), Vol. 10, under Surah Al-Tawbah, Ayah 40, Pub. by Al-Risalah Foundation, Beirut.
Ibn Kathīr
Ibn Kathīr explains that verse was revealed to affirm that the support of Allah for His Messenger does not depend on human assistance. Even if the believers fail to support him, Allah has already demonstrated His decisive help at the most critical moment—when the disbelievers expelled the Prophet from Mecca during the Hijrah. The verse recalls the episode of the cave of Thawr, where the Prophet and his Companion Abū Bakr sought refuge for three days while Quraysh pursued them. Ibn Kathīr relates that Abū Bakr feared that the pursuers might discover them and that harm might befall the Messenger, while the Prophet repeatedly reassured him with the words, “Do not grieve; surely Allah is with us.”
According to Ibn Kathīr, this divine companionship was then manifested through the descent of Allah’s sakīnah, described as tranquility, calmness, and reassurance. He reports that the pronoun “him” in “Then Allah sent down His sakīnah upon him” is understood to refer to the Messenger of Allah himself while others hold that it refers to Abū Bakr. Nevertheless, Ibn Kathīr explains that this divine assistance resulted in firmness, victory, and protection. Alongside this tranquility, Allah strengthened His Messenger with unseen forces, namely angels, whose presence was not perceptible to human sight.
Ibn Kathīr further explains that the verse declares the ultimate failure of disbelief and the supremacy of Allah’s cause. The “word of those who disbelieved” is identified as shirk, while “the Word of Allah” is lā ilāha illā Allāh. Through this divine intervention, the schemes of the disbelievers were rendered lowest, while Allah’s word remained exalted and dominant. Ibn Kathīr supports this meaning by citing prophetic traditions that define striving in the cause of Allah as striving to make Allah’s word supreme.
He concludes by emphasizing that Allah’s victory is rooted in His might and wisdom. Allah is described as All-Mighty and All-Wise—unyielding in retribution against His enemies and perfectly just in granting support to His Messenger. The verse therefore serves as both a historical reminder of divine aid during the Hijrah and a theological affirmation that Allah alone guarantees the success, protection, and ultimate triumph of His Messenger, regardless of human circumstances.
Source: Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Abridged). Translated by Ṣafī al-Raḥmān. Vol. 4 (Chapter 9, Verse 40) Riyadh: Maktaba Dār-us-Salām, 2003.
Al-Ṭabarsī
In his commentary on verse , Al-Ṭabarsī presents the verse as a reminder of God’s direct support for His Messenger, even in the most desperate of circumstances, and as reassurance to the believers that divine help does not depend on human numbers. The verse refers to the critical moment during the Prophet’s migration from Mecca when the disbelievers plotted to kill him and forced him into exile. He had no companion with him except Abū Bakr, with whom he entered the cave of Thawr. When Quraysh tracked them to the cave’s entrance, Abū Bakr grew anxious, fearing that their pursuers might discover them. The Prophet (s.a.w.) reassured him with the words: “Do not grieve, indeed Allah is with us,” affirming that divine protection and presence were sufficient.
Reports describe how Allah shielded them in miraculous ways: a spider spun its web across the cave’s opening, and two doves nested there, so that when the Quraysh arrived, they assumed no one could have entered. Other narrations state that Allah struck the pursuers with blindness so they could not see, even while standing right at the cave. When Abū Bakr whispered that if they were only to look beneath their feet they would find them, the Prophet repeated his words of reassurance, emphasizing that God’s presence was enough to secure their safety.
The verse continues: “Then Allah sent down His tranquility upon him.” Most exegetes understood this tranquility (sakīna) to have descended upon the Prophet himself, strengthening his resolve and filling him with calm assurance, though some argued it referred to Abū Bakr, who had been shaken with fear. In any case, it was this divine tranquility that brought stability to the heart amidst danger. Alongside this, Allah sent unseen hosts—interpreted as angels—to protect the Prophet and repel harm, whether in the cave or later in battles such as Badr. This support was both external, through angelic aid, and internal, by reinforcing his certainty and steadfastness.
The outcome of this divine intervention was the humiliation of the disbelievers’ schemes: “He made the word of those who disbelieved the lowest.” Their religion of shirk, their denials, and their plots were all rendered void. In contrast, “the word of Allah is the highest.” This was understood as the proclamation of tawḥīd, lā ilāha illā Allāh, and the truth of the Prophet’s mission. Ibn ʿAbbās explicitly identified the “word of Allah” with the declaration of God’s oneness. Thus, God raised the banner of truth above falsehood, and the religion of Islam above the claims of disbelief.
The verse concludes with “Allah is Mighty, Wise”—Mighty in the sense of overpowering His enemies and thwarting their plans, and Wise in arranging events so that the Prophet’s mission would be secured and the triumph of Islam assured.
In this way, Al-Ṭabarsī shows how the verse encapsulates both a historical moment of near-defeat and an eternal lesson: that the strength of God’s support is not dependent on worldly measures of power, but rather flows from His might and wisdom, lifting His word above all others.
Source: Majmaʿ al-Bayān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān, vol. 5 (Qom: Dār al-ʿIlm), commentary on Q. 9:40.
ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī
In his exegesis of verse , ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī presents the episode of the cave as a decisive illustration of Allah’s direct and exclusive support for His Messenger at the most vulnerable moment of the mission. The verse recalls the Prophet’s forced departure from Mecca after the Quraysh plot to kill him, his retreat to the cave of Thawr with Abū Bakr, and God’s intervention that thwarted the schemes of the disbelievers and preserved His Messenger and message.
Ṭabāṭabāʾī clarifies the key expressions of the verse: thānī al-ithnayn means “one of the two,” ghār refers specifically to the cave of Thawr, and the “companion” addressed with lā taḥzan inna Allāha maʿanā is, by definitive reports, Abū Bakr. The Prophet’s reassurance reflects absolute certainty in divine protection despite immediate danger.
The central issue concerns the pronoun in fa-anzala Allāhu sakinatahu ʿalayhi (“Then Allah sent down His composure upon him”). Some interpreters claim this refers to Abū Bakr, arguing that he was distressed and thus in need of composure. Ṭabāṭabāʾī firmly rejects this reading. He demonstrates that all pronouns throughout the verse—“Allah has already helped him,” “when the disbelievers expelled him,” “when he said to his companion”—consistently refer to the Prophet. To shift the referent of “upon him” to Abū Bakr would break the verse’s grammatical and thematic coherence.
He further explains that the clauses introduced by idh (“when”) collectively elaborate the single statement that Allah had already helped His Messenger. The descent of composure and the strengthening with unseen hosts are direct explanations of that divine help. Detaching them from the Prophet disrupts the internal logic of the passage. The objection that the Prophet was always in a state of composure is dismissed by citing other verses (; ) where Allah explicitly states that He sent down composure upon His Messenger at moments of trial, showing that this aid is situational, not static.
The phrase “and strengthened him with hosts you did not see” must also apply to the same subject, namely the Prophet. To apply it to Abū Bakr would require an unjustified split in the verse and attribute unseen divine hosts to someone other than the Messenger, for which the text gives no indication. These unseen hosts are understood as divine means—such as angels—that diverted the pursuers and ensured the Prophet’s safety.
Finally, Ṭabāṭabāʾī interprets the “word of the disbelievers” as their resolve at Dār al-Nadwa to assassinate the Prophet, which was brought low by God’s intervention. By contrast, the “word of Allah” is His promise to aid His Messenger and make His religion prevail. The verse thus culminates in the affirmation that Allah’s decree is supreme.
In sum, Ṭabāṭabāʾī reads verse as a unified proclamation of divine protection for the Prophet alone at a moment when human aid was absent. Interpreting divine composure as descending upon Abū Bakr, he argues, fractures the verse’s structure and obscures its central message: the triumph of the Prophet’s mission rests entirely upon Allah’s support, not upon numbers, status, or human assistance.
Source: Al-Mīzān fī Tafsīr al-Qur'ān, Eng. Vol. 18 under Chapter 9, Verse 40 (Tawheed Institute, Australia).
Read ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī’s full commentary in Tafsir al-Mizan: 9:38–48 on almizan.org ↗
Our reflection
This is our own reflection on the readings above. It is one way of reading the comparison, offered to encourage further thought rather than as the final word.
The four exegetes approach Qur’an through markedly different exegetical lenses, revealing how historical narration, theological commitments, and hermeneutical principles shape their readings of the same verse. While all agree that the verse recalls the episode of the Hijrah and the Prophet’s refuge in the cave of Thawr, they diverge significantly in emphasis, scope, and interpretive priorities—especially regarding the role of Abū Bakr and the referent of divine sakīnah.
Al-Qurṭubī’s tafsīr is expansive and integrative, blending historical detail, legal inference, moral instruction, and sectarian affirmation. His commentary moves beyond the immediate linguistic and contextual demands of the verse and treats it as a reservoir of lessons for law, politics, and doctrine. The Hijrah narrative becomes a platform for deriving rulings about concealment, reliance on material means, and the permissibility of contracting non-Muslims. At the same time, al-Qurṭubī places strong emphasis on Abū Bakr’s spiritual and political stature. His grief is framed as virtuous rather than problematic, and the verse is explicitly marshalled to defend Abū Bakr’s companionship, merit, and even his later caliphate. This move, while reflective of Sunni theological concerns, stretches the verse beyond its immediate rhetorical purpose. Most notably, al-Qurṭubī inclines toward interpreting the descent of sakīnah as referring to Abū Bakr, reasoning from psychological plausibility rather than from the internal coherence of the verse. His reading prioritizes devotional and polemical objectives over strict syntactic continuity, illustrating how exegetical interpretation can be shaped by communal memory and doctrinal defense.
Ibn Kathīr’s tafsīr is comparatively restrained and traditionalist in orientation. While he also narrates the Hijrah episode and affirms Abū Bakr’s fear and companionship, he does not exploit the verse to construct political or sectarian arguments. His method is largely atharī: he transmits reports, records variant opinions, and allows transmitted material to speak for itself. On the question of sakīnah, Ibn Kathīr acknowledges the interpretive disagreement without resolving it decisively thus avoiding the polemical assertiveness found in al-Qurṭubī. The focus remains squarely on the theological message of the verse: Allah’s support of His Messenger is independent of human aid, and divine victory is achieved through unseen means. Ibn Kathīr’s strength lies in preserving narrative continuity and theological clarity, though his reluctance to interrogate the implications of competing interpretations leaves certain tensions unresolved.
Al-Ṭabarsī, writing from a Shiʿi exegetical tradition, shares with the Sunni exegetes an acceptance of the historical framework of the Hijrah and the cave of Thawr, but his treatment of the verse is notably less polemical than al-Qurṭubī’s. While Abū Bakr’s presence and fear are acknowledged, the exegetical center of gravity remains the Prophet himself and the manifestation of divine aid. Al-Ṭabarsī’s discussion of sakīnah reflects a mainstream tendency to read it as descending upon the Prophet, though he records alternative views without pressing them into sectarian argument. His interpretation balances narrative detail with theological restraint, and the verse functions primarily as an illustration of God’s decisive intervention rather than as proof of individual merit or political legitimacy. In this respect, al-Ṭabarsī occupies a middle ground: attentive to transmitted reports, yet cautious about overextending the verse beyond its core message.
ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī offers the most rigorous and internally coherent reading among the four. His analysis is driven by close attention to the verse’s structure, pronoun usage, and rhetorical flow. Rather than beginning from historical narration or theological preference, he reconstructs the logic of the verse itself. By demonstrating that all the pronouns consistently refer back to the Prophet, he argues that the descent of sakīnah and the reinforcement with unseen hosts must apply to the same subject—namely, the Messenger of Allah. For Ṭabāṭabāʾī, shifting the referent to Abū Bakr disrupts the syntactic unity of the passage and undermines its primary purpose: to assert that Allah had already helped His Messenger at a moment when no believers were present to aid him. His critique of alternative readings is methodological rather than polemical; sectarian motivations are identified as external pressures imposed upon the text rather than conclusions emerging from it. By grounding his interpretation in Qur’anic coherence and comparative usage of sakīnah elsewhere in the Qur’an, Ṭabāṭabāʾī presents a reading that is both textually disciplined and theologically focused.
Taken together, these four tafsīrs illustrate how a single verse can serve different exegetical functions. For al-Qurṭubī, it becomes a vehicle for communal memory, moral exhortation, and political theology. For Ibn Kathīr, it is a confirmation of divine aid transmitted through reliable reports. For al-Ṭabarsī, it is a historical reassurance emphasizing God’s power over worldly measures. For Ṭabāṭabāʾī, it is a tightly constructed Qur’anic argument whose meaning emerges from internal consistency rather than narrative embellishment. The divergence over the referent of sakīnah thus becomes emblematic of broader methodological differences: whether meaning is anchored primarily in transmitted reports, psychological plausibility, doctrinal commitments, or the structural logic of the Qur’anic discourse itself.
What is your reflection?
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