Muslim, Abū Dāwūd, al-Tirmidhī, Ibn Jarīr, and others have also transmitted this ḥadīth through the isnād of ʿIkrimah ibn ʿAmmār al-Yamānī; both ʿAlī ibn al-Madīnī and al-Tirmidhī declared it sound.

Likewise, more than one authority—among them Ibn ʿAbbās, al-Suddi, Ibn Jurayj, and others—stated that the present verse was revealed in connection with the Prophet’s supplication on the Day of Badr.

Al-Umawī and others report that the Muslims raised their voices to Allah, Exalted is He, imploring His protection and assistance.

As for the words of the Almighty, “with a thousand angels, coming in succession” (al-Anfāl 8:9), the meaning is: they followed one another as reinforcements for your ranks. This explanation is related by al-ʿAwfī from Ibn ʿAbbās and is likewise affirmed by Mujāhid, Ibn Kathīr, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Zayd, and others.

Abū Kudaynah narrated, from Qābūs—[from his father]—from Ibn ʿAbbās, that “coming in succession (murdifīn)” means “behind every angel there was another angel.” In another version of the same chain he said: “one contingent following another.” The same interpretation is reported from Abū Ẓubyān, al-Ḍaḥḥāk, and Qatādah.

ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥah al-Wālibī further transmitted from Ibn ʿAbbās that Allah reinforced His Prophet ﷺ and the believers with a thousand angels: Gabriel commanding five hundred on one flank and Michael commanding five hundred on the other. This is the most widely known account.

Ibn Jarīr, however, recounts—through al-Muthannā, Isḥāq, Yaʿqūb ibn Muḥammad al-Zuhrī, ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿImrān, al-Zamʿī, Abū al-Ḥuwayrith, and Muḥammad ibn Jubayr—from ʿAlī that Gabriel descended with a thousand angels on the Prophet’s right wing, where Abū Bakr was positioned, while Michael came down with a thousand angels on the Prophet’s left, where I was.

Al-Bayhaqī records the same report in Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwah from Muḥammad ibn Jubayr on the authority of ʿAlī, but adds: “Isrāfīl likewise descended with a thousand angels, and he thrust with the spear that day until the hair under his arm was drenched with blood,” indicating that three thousand angels came down. This narration is strange and its chain is weak; nevertheless, were it authentic it would lend additional support to what has already been mentioned.