At first the tide of battle was running against the idolaters. Then, when the archers left the position the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had assigned to them—although he had instructed, “Do not leave it, whether we prevail or are defeated” (1)—the enemy cavalry broke through that gap and events unfolded as they did. A heavy loss befell the Muslims at Uhud, yet Allah honored them with martyrdom in His cause.

Allah relates the details of this expedition in Sūrat Āl ʿImrān and enlarges upon its lessons. Studying the accounts of this battle in the books of sīra therefore helps one grasp the many verses that were revealed about it, as with the other campaigns.

• In the fourth year the Muslims and the idolaters arranged to meet again at Badr. The Muslims arrived at the appointed time, but the idolaters stayed behind, claiming that the year was a season of drought. Allah nevertheless recorded it as a campaign for the Muslims: “So they returned with a blessing and bounty from Allah; no harm touched them, and they pursued Allah’s good pleasure. Allah is the Possessor of great bounty” (3:174).

• Then, in the fifth year, came the Battle of the Trench. The clans of the Ḥijāz and Najd joined forces, aided by the Banū Qurayẓa from among the Jews, to march against the Prophet ﷺ. They mustered every contingent they could until nearly ten thousand fighters gathered and advanced on Medina.

  When the Prophet ﷺ learned of their approach, he ordered that a trench be dug around the city, and the Muslims moved out to man it.

  The idolaters arrived just as Allah describes: “When they came at you from above you and from below you, when the eyes grew wild and the hearts leapt to the throats…” (Al-Aḥzāb 10). They remained besieging the city for several—