Dithār: the garment that is worn over the shiʿār; the dāl is pronounced with a kasrah.
ʾAtharah: with a fatḥah on both the hamzah and the thāʾ. It denotes monopolizing a shared right.
What it means here: people will one day reserve the worldly goods that are likewise your due; when that happens, be patient.
Shaʿb: the gap or ravine that opens between two mountains.
Overall meaning
The Muslims met the idolaters at Hunayn, routed them, and took possession of their wealth. Alongside the Prophet ﷺ on this campaign were certain Arab notables who had only recently professed Islam and in whose hearts faith had yet to take firm root. To win their loyalty—and thereby avert great harm from the Muslims and stir these leaders and their tribes to embrace Islam—the Prophet ﷺ granted them an ample share of the booty.
He gave nothing to the Anṣār, trusting in the faith with which Allah had adorned their hearts, a faith that neither grows with worldly gifts nor shrinks through worldly deprivation. Still, love for what Allah had made lawful and for what they had gained by their own swords and striving stirred misgivings in their hearts when they saw the spoils divided among others while they received nothing; they had not perceived the far-reaching wisdom behind the decision.
When the Prophet ﷺ learned of what lay within their hearts, he gathered them and addressed them:
“O assembly of the Anṣār! Did I not find you astray, and Allah guided you through me? Were you not divided, and Allah united you through me? Were you not poor, and Allah enriched you through me?”
Each time he mentioned a blessing they responded, “Allah and His Messenger have bestowed the greater favor.”
Having reminded them of the graces that had come to them by his hand—guidance, the highest aim; harmony after the grinding wars and destructive feuds of the past; and prosperity after poverty, brought by war-booty and by the bustling markets of Madinah, now the capital of Islam—he then, out of his noble character and love of justice, recalled their own white-handed favors to Islam and the Muslims. They had sheltered the Emigrants and supported them after even their closest relatives had turned on them, expelling them from their homes and wealth. With the Anṣār the Emigrants found refuge, support, and generous hospitality, until the sharing of the Anṣār made them forget their homeland and families.
Then the Prophet ﷺ sought to console them for the trifles of this world with something that unites the good of this world and the next, saying, “Are you not pleased that people go home with sheep and camels while you return with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to your dwellings?”
Their only response—may Allah be pleased with them—was contentment, their eyes brimming with tears: tears of joy at so great a favor and immense glad-tidings, and tears of remorse and gentle self-reproach. Their pure souls met the pure soul of their Prophet.