The Quran

Preface

الآنَ خَفَّفَ اللَّهُ عَنكُم وَعَلِمَ أَنَّ فيكُم ضَعفًا ۚ فَإِن يَكُن مِنكُم مِائَةٌ صابِرَةٌ يَغلِبوا مِائَتَينِ ۚ وَإِن يَكُن مِنكُم أَلفٌ يَغلِبوا أَلفَينِ بِإِذنِ اللَّهِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ مَعَ الصّابِرينَ

Yusuf Ali

For the present, God hath lightened your (task), for He knoweth that there is a weak spot in you:¹ But (even so), if there are a hundred of you, patient and persevering, they will vanquish two hundred, and if a thousand, they will vanquish two thousand, with the leave of God. for God is with those who patiently persevere.

Given equal conditions, Muslims on account of their faith could win against odds of ten-to-one. But where their organisation and equipment are weak, as was the case about the time of Badr, they were set a lighter task, and asked to tackle no more than odds of two to one against them. As a matter of fact at Badr they won through against odds of more than three to one.