(18–21) “Allah was certainly pleased with the believers when they pledged allegiance to you under the tree. He knew what was in their hearts, so He sent down tranquility upon them and rewarded them with a victory close at hand, * and abundant spoils which they would take. Allah is Almighty, All-Wise. * Allah has promised you abundant spoils which you will take, and He has hastened these for you and withheld people’s hands from you, so that this may be a sign for the believers and He may guide you to a straight path. * And there are other spoils which you have not yet been able to take, but Allah has them fully within His power. Allah is Most Capable of all things.”

Allah Most High tells of His bounty and mercy in being pleased with the believers when they pledged allegiance to the Messenger—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—a pledge that crowned them with honor and through which they attained happiness in this world and the Hereafter.

The events leading to this pledge—called the “Pledge of Divine Pleasure” because Allah was pleased with the believers on that occasion, and also the “Pledge of the People of the Tree”—were as follows. When discussions took place between the Messenger—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—and the polytheists on the day of Hudaybiyyah regarding his arrival, he explained that he had not come to fight anyone but only to visit and honor this House. Allah’s Messenger—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—then sent Uthmān ibn Affān to Mecca to convey this. A false report arrived that the polytheists had killed Uthmān, so Allah’s Messenger gathered the believers who were with him, numbering around 1,500. Beneath a tree, they pledged allegiance to him that they would fight the polytheists and not flee, but remain steadfast until death.

Allah Most High declared that He was pleased with the believers in that situation, which was among the greatest acts of obedience and the most sublime acts of devotion. “He knew what was in their hearts” of faith, “so He sent down tranquility upon them.” ⦗794⦘ As a reward for what was in their hearts, He increased them in guidance. He also knew of the anguish in their hearts over the conditions the polytheists had imposed upon His Messenger, so He sent tranquility upon them to make them steadfast and reassure their hearts. “And He rewarded them with a victory close at hand”—namely, the conquest of Khaybar, in which only those who had been at Hudaybiyyah took part. Khaybar and its spoils were thus reserved exclusively for them as their reward and in recognition of their obedience to Allah Most High and their efforts to earn His pleasure.

“And abundant spoils which they would take. Allah is Almighty, All-Wise.” That is, He possesses the might and power by which He subdues all things. Had He willed, He could have exacted retribution from the disbelievers in every battle between them and the believers. Yet He is All-Wise: He tests some people through others and tests the believer through the disbeliever.

“Allah has promised you abundant spoils which you will take.” This includes every spoil the Muslims will gain until the Day of Resurrection. “And He has hastened these for you”—that is, the spoils of Khaybar. Do not think that these are the only spoils; rather, many more will follow. And praise Allah, for He “withheld the hands of the people”—those who were capable of fighting you and eager to do so—“from you.” This is a blessing and a relief for you.

“So that this may be a sign for the believers,” from which they may recognize the truth of Allah’s word, the certainty of His promise, His reward for the believers, and that the One who made these spoils possible can make others possible as well; “and guide you,” through the means He makes available to you, “to a straight path” of knowledge, faith, and action.

“And there are other spoils”—meaning that He has also promised you another haul of spoils—“which you were not able to take” at the time of this address. “Allah has them fully within His power”—that is, He is capable of granting them, and they are under His control and dominion. He has promised them to you, so what He promised must inevitably come to pass, because Allah Most High is perfect in power. Hence He said, “Allah is Most Capable of all things.”