3 Preface في أَدنَى الأَرضِ وَهُم مِن بَعدِ غَلَبِهِم سَيَغلِبونَYusuf AliIn a land close by; but they, (even) after (this) defeat of theirs, will soon be victorious-1The Pagan Quraish of Mecca rejoiced at the overthrow of Rome by Persia. They were pro-Persian. and in their heart of hearts they hoped that the nascent movement of Islam, which at that time was, from a worldly point of view, very weak and helpless, would also collapse under their persecution. But they misread the true Signs of the times. They are told here that they would soon be disillusioned in both their calculations, and it actually so happened at the battle of Issus in 622 A.C. (the year of Hijrat) and in 624 A.C., when Heraclius carried his campaign into the heart of Persia (see Appendix 8) and the Meccan Quraish were beaten off at Badr.