(Revealed before Hijrah)
The Surah was revealed at Mecca, but it is difficult to assign an exact date to its revelation. The most reliable authorities, however, place it in the sixth or seventh year of the Call, as in that year the tide of the Persian conquest to which the Surah pointedly refers was at its height; the Persian armies were knocking at the very gates of Constantinople and the disgrace and degradation of the Romans had touched its nadir. Towards the close of the preceding Surah it was stated that 'the present life is but a pastime and a sport' if it is not spent in a noble cause, and that life, real and everlasting, is the one in which a spiritual wayfarer strives with might and main to win the pleasure of God. The present Surah opens with the prophetic words that the believers will successfully meet the ordeal of trials and tribulations through which they will be made to pass and as a reward of their sacrifice and suffering the gates of Divine grace and mercy will be opened to them.
The dominant theme of the Surah is the defeat and discomfiture of the forces of disbelief and darkness and the rise and triumph of Islam. It states with an emphasis and certainty which dispel all doubt that the old order is about to die and a new and better one will emerge from its ruins. The Surah opens with the declaration of a prophecy about the ultimate success of the Romans over the Persians. The prophecy was made at a time when the tide of the Persian conquest was sweeping away everything before its irresistible onrush and the degradation and humiliation of the Romans had sunk to its lowest depths. It was then beyond human knowledge and ingenuity to predict that within a period ranging from three to nine years, tables would be completely turned upon the Persians, and the vanquished would become the victors. The prophecy was literally fulfilled in most extraordinary and unforeseen circumstances. Its fulfilment implied another and a greater prophecy that the forces of disbelief which were then too powerful for the poor and the weak Muslims to withstand would also be put to complete rout, and Islam would march triumphantly from strength to strength. Next, the Surah refers to the great powers of God manifested in the creation of the heavens and the earth, the alternation of day and night, the perfect design and order that exist in the universe, and in the birth of man from a very insignificant beginning. All these things lead to the irresistible and inevitable conclusion that God Who possesses such vast and unlimited powers does also have the power to make Islam grow from a small seed into a mighty tree under whose shade the whole of humanity will someday take rest. Islam is bound to succeed because it is Dinul-Fitrah, i.e. it conforms to human nature and appeals to man’s conscience, reason and common sense. Its triumph will come about through a great and wonderful revolution which will take place in Arabia. A people, morally as good as dead, will be roused from their deep sleep of ages, and drinking deep at the spiritual fountain caused by the Holy Prophet to flow, will become the torchbearers of spiritual light and will carry the Message of Islam to the ends of the earth. The Surah ends on the note that opposition to Islam cannot arrest or retard its progress. Truth in the long run triumphs and prospers and falsehood is defeated and humiliated. This phenomenon has taken place in the time of every Prophet of God and it will again take place in the time of the Holy Prophet. The Prophet is then asked to bear with patience and fortitude all the persecution and mockery to which he is being subjected, as success will soon come to him.