between us and you a fixed term: if we prevail, we shall receive such-and-such, and if you prevail, you shall receive such-and-such.” Abū Bakr set the deadline at five years, but the Romans did not win within that span. When this was reported to the Prophet ﷺ, he said, “Why did you not make it less than—I think—ten?” Saʿīd explained, “Al-biḍʿ (a few) means fewer than ten.” Thereafter the Romans did triumph, and that is the meaning of His words: “Alif. Lām. Mīm. The Romans have been defeated in the nearest land, yet after their defeat they will be victorious within a few years. To Allah belongs the command before and after, and on that day the believers will rejoice in Allah’s help. He helps whom He wills, and He is the All-Mighty, the Ever-Merciful” [30:1–5].
Sufyān said, “I heard that they gained this victory on the Day of Badr (1).”
Al-Tirmidhī commented, “This is a ḥadīth that is ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ.”
He also relates in his Jāmiʿ (2) on the authority of Niyār ibn Mukram al-Aslamī, who said: