Al-Fath (The Victory)

5. That He may admit the believing men and the believing women to Gardens [in Paradise] under which rivers flow [beneath trees] to abide therein forever and He may expiate from them their sins and that is with Allah a supreme salvation and success.

Descent of Divine serenity increases faith and prepares the path for being admitted to Paradise. Believers’ great and real happiness and salvation lie in serenity in this world and abode in Paradise in the Hereafter.

A number of Shi’i and Sunni Qur’anic exegets narrate that upon the revelation of the opening Verses of the Chapter regarding the glad tidings to the Noble Prophet (S) as to manifest triumph, completion of Favors, Guidance, and Succor, concerned and saddened by the incident of Hudaybiyya, some Muslims said unto the Noble Prophet (S):

“Good for you since you have been promised so many Divine Bounties. What will be granted to us?”

Thus the first Verse was revealed bearing glad tidings to believers that they would be granted great rewards.¹ These Verses also treat of the Treaty of Hudaybiyya and its diverse reflections in people’s thought and its fruitful consequences, specifying the fate of each group in the crucible of such ordeals.

The Verse opens by saying that another goal behind such great triumph was that believing men and women would be admitted the gardens of Paradise beneath whose trees rivers flow.

They shall abide in it for good and they shall never lose such great Favor;

(“to abide therein forever”).

Furthermore,

“He may expiate from them their sins and that is with Allah a supreme salvation and success.”

Thus, against the four Favors bestowed upon the Messenger of God (S) in the manifest triumph, two great Favors were also granted to believers: everlasting Paradise with all its Bounties and forgiving of their faults besides serenity and peace of mind in this world. These three Favors constitute a great triumph and a grand salvation for those who pass the ordeals with flying flags.

In the Holy Qur’an, the word fawz is often collocated with ‘adim and at times with mubin and kabir. In his Mufradat, Raghib says that fawz designates victory and attainment of good things together with health when it entails salvation in the Hereafter despite losing worldly bounties.

According to a well-known narration, upon receiving the blow on his head inflicted by ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn Muljam, the criminal of the time, Imam ‘Ali’s (as) shouted:

“By the God of Ka’ba I attained to triumph”

(and the letter of my happiness was signed with blood of my head).

Divine Ordeals are at times so difficult and unbearable that they uproot shallow faiths and turns hearts upside down; true believers enjoying the bounty of serenity may solely persevere and reap the consequences of their perseverance in the Hereafter and it is actually the great triumph.