“and on that day the believers will rejoice in Allah’s help; He grants victory to whom He wills” (al-Rum 4).

Al-Tirmidhī recorded this report in his Jāmiʿ, saying:

“Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl narrated to us; Ismāʿīl ibn Uways narrated to us; he said: Ibn Abī al-Zinād related to me, from Abū al-Zinād, from ʿUrwah ibn al-Zubayr, from Niyār ibn Mukram al-Aslamī, who said:

When the words

‘Alif–Lām–Mīm. The Romans have been defeated—in the nearest land; yet after their defeat they shall be victorious within a few years’ (al-Rum 1–4)

were revealed, the Persians were at that moment triumphing over the Romans. The Muslims, however, wished for the Romans to overcome them, because both the Muslims and the Romans were People of the Scripture. That is the meaning of the Almighty’s statement:

‘and on that day the believers will rejoice in Allah’s help; He helps whom He wills, and He is the All-Mighty, the Most Merciful’ (al-Rum 4–5).