قوله تعالى : ( إذ يريكهم الله ) يريك يا محمد المشركين ، ( في منامك ) أي : نومك . وقال الحسن : في منامك أي في عينك ، لأن العين موضع النوم ، ( قليلا ولو أراكهم كثيرا لفشلتم ) لجبنتم ( ولتنازعتم ) أي : اختلفتم ( في الأمر ) أي : في الإحجام والإقدام ، ( ولكن الله سلم ) أي سلمكم من المخالفة والفشل ، ( إنه عليم بذات الصدور ) قال ابن عباس : علم ما في صدوركم من الحب لله - عز وجل - :
Remember, O Messenger, Allah’s favour upon you, and upon the believers, when He showed you a dream in which the idolaters were few in number. You informed the believers about this and they took it as a good sign, and their determination to face the enemy in battle was strengthened. If Allah had shown the idolaters to you to be many, the determination of your Companions would have become weak and they would have become afraid of fighting. But Allah saved you all from that and protected them from losing courage. He therefore made them seem few in number in the eye of His Messenger (peace be upon him). He knows what the hearts contain and what the souls hide.