over the polytheists, and Allah granted the People of the Scripture victory over the Magians; we rejoiced at our triumph and at theirs.

Al-Layth related: ʿUqayl told me, on the authority of Ibn Shihāb, who said: ʿUbayd Allah ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUtbah informed me that when these two verses were revealed—the opening of Sūrat al-Rūm—Abū Bakr entered into a wager with some of the idolaters (this was before gambling had been forbidden). He staked something on the condition that Persia would not defeat Rome within seven years. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to him, “Why did you do that? Everything less than ten years counts as bidʿ (a few).” In fact, Persia prevailed over Rome in seven years, whereupon the Prophet ﷺ again said, “Why did you do that?” Persia then overcame Rome in nine years, after which Allah gave Rome the upper hand during the year of al-Ḥudaybiyyah, and the Muslims were delighted by it.

Ibn Abī ʿArūbah transmitted from Qatādah concerning the verse, “in the nearest land” (Q 30:3): he said, “The people of Persia defeated them in the part of Syria that lies closest to Arabia. The Muslims trusted their Lord and knew that Rome would later triumph. So they and the polytheists entered into a wager for five she-camels, setting a term of five years. Abū Bakr acted on behalf of the Muslims, while Ubayy ibn Khalaf represented the polytheists; this, too, was before gambling had been prohibited.

“When the term expired and Rome had not yet prevailed, the polytheists demanded their stake. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, ‘Would you not have done better to set a term of fewer than ten years? For bidʿ is anything between three and ten. Increase the stake and extend the deadline.’ They did so, and Allah caused the Romans to prevail at the end of the seventh year from their first wager. That coincided with their return from al-Ḥudaybiyyah, and the Muslims rejoiced at the victory.”