The Quran

Preface

وَاذكُروا إِذ أَنتُم قَليلٌ مُستَضعَفونَ فِي الأَرضِ تَخافونَ أَن يَتَخَطَّفَكُمُ النّاسُ فَآواكُم وَأَيَّدَكُم بِنَصرِهِ وَرَزَقَكُم مِنَ الطَّيِّباتِ لَعَلَّكُم تَشكُرونَ

Yusuf Ali

Call to mind when ye were a small (band), despised through the land, and afraid that men might despoil and kidnap you;¹ But He provided a safe asylum for you, strengthened you with His aid, and gave you Good things for sustenance: that ye might be grateful.

On the immediate occasion the Muslims were reminded that they were a small band in Mecca; despised and rejected; living in a state of insecurity for their persons, their lives, their property, and those of their dependents; persecuted and exiled and how by the grace of God they found a safe asylum in Medīna, how they found friends and helpers, how their many needs were cared for, and how at length they gathered strength and numbers enough to defeat the forces of godlessness, injustice, and oppression.
But for every individual, in some form or other, the lesson applies. His spiritual life begins humbly; he is despised and laughed at, perhaps persecuted and shut out from ordinary privileges open to all; but God gives him strength; friends spring up for him; and he is sustained until his highest spiritual desires are gradually fulfilled.