The Quran

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

Muhammad Asad

For the time being, [however,] God has lightened your burden - for He knows that you are weak: and so, if there be one hundred of you who are patient in adversity, they should [be able to] overcome two hundred; and if there be one thousand of you, they should [be able to] overcome two thousand by God's leave: for God is with those who are patient in adversity.¹

This relates to the time at which the above verse was revealed, namely, immediately after the battle of Badr (2 H.), when the Muslims were extremely weak both in numbers and in equipment, and their community had not yet attained to any significant degree of political organization. Under those circumstances, the Qur'an says, they could not - nor could any Muslim community of later times, in similar circumstances - be expected to bring forth the effort and the efficiency required of a fully developed community of believers; but even so they should be able to stand up to an enemy twice their number. (The proportions one to two, or - as in the preceding verse, one to ten - are not, of course, to be taken literallly; as a matter of fact, the Muslims defeated at Badr a much better armed army more than thrice their own number.) The reference to God's having "lightened the burden" imposed on the believers in this respect makes it clear that both this and the preceding verse imply a divine command couched in terms of exhortation, and not a prediction of events to come (Razi).