(Say: O Allah! Owner of Sovereignty!) [3:26].
Ibn 'Abbas and Anas ibn Malik said: “When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, conquered Mecca and promised his nation the kingdoms of Persia and Byzantium, the hypocrites and Jews said: 'How far fetched! How far fetched! How on earth can Muhammad conquer the kingdoms of Persia and Byzantium? They are too mighty and strong for that. Are Mecca and Medina not enough for Muhammad that he covets the kingdoms of Persia and Byzantium?' And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse”.
Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Marwazi informed in his epistle> Abu'l-Fadl Muhammad ibn al-Husayn al-Haddadi> Muhammad ibn Yahya> Ishaq ibn Ibrahim> Rawh ibn 'Ubadah> Sa'id> Qatadah who said: “It was mentioned to us that the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, requested Allah to grant his nation the kingdoms of Persia and Byzantium, and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed (Say: O Allah! Owner of Sovereignty!)”.
The master Abu Ishaq al-Tha'alibi informed us> 'Abd Allah ibn Hamid al-Wazzan> Muhammad ibn Ja'far al-Matiri> Hammad ibn al-Hasan> Muhammad ibn Khalid ibn 'Athmah> Kathir ibn 'Abd Allah ibn 'Amr ibn 'Awf> his father> his father who said: “On the day of the Confederates, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, drew lines indicating where the Ditch was to be dug and he assigned ten men for every forty cubits. 'Amd ibn 'Awf said: 'Myself, Salman [al-Farisi], Hudhayfah [ibn al-Yaman] al-Nu'man ibn Muqarrin al-Muzani and six men of the Helpers were assigned to dig forty cubits. We dug until we reached beneath Dhu Nab whereupon we came upon a rock of flint which broke our steel and proved extremely hard to break. And so we told Salman to go up and inform the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, about this rock and to consult him about either to go round it or command us something else about it, for we did not like going beyond the line he drew. So Salman went up to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, who had on him a Turkish collar. He said: 'O Messenger of Allah! We came across a white rock of flint inside the ditch which has broken our steel and proved very hard to break, for we did everything we could to break it but in vain. Please tell us what to do, for we do not like going beyond the line you drew'. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, went down to the ditch along with Salman while the remaining nine people remained at the verge of it. He took the axe from Salman and struck the rock with one mighty blow which split it into two, and a light shone from its two sides, such that it was like lighting a lamp in a dark room. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, pronounced the Takbir which is usually pronounced after a conquest and the Muslims did the same. Then he struck it again with a blow and a light shone from its two sides, such that it was like lighting a lamp in a dark room. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, pronounced the Takbir which is usually pronounced after a conquest and the Muslims did the same. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, struck it a third time upon which the rock broke into pieces and a light shone, such that it was like lighting a lamp in a dark room. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, pronounced the Takbir which is usually pronounced after a conquest and the Muslims did the same. He then held the hand of Salman and climbed up. Salman said: 'May my mother and father be your ransom, O Messenger of Allah, I saw something which I had never seen before'. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, turned to the people present and said: 'Did you see that which Salman is talking about?' They said: 'Yes, O Messenger of Allah!' He said: 'I struck the first time and the light which you saw shone and through it I could see the palaces of al-Hirah and the cities of Chosroes resembling the teeth of dogs. Gabriel, peace be upon him, informed me then that my nation will conquer them. Then I struck a second time and in that light I could see the red palaces of the land of Byzantium resembling the teeth of dogs. Gabriel, peace be upon him, informed me then that my nation will conquer them. Then I struck the rock with my third blow and the light which you saw shone and I saw the palaces of San'a' resembling the teeth of dogs. Gabriel, peace be upon him, informed me then that my nation will conquer them. So receive the good news'. The Muslims were happy to hear the good news. They said: 'Praise be to Allah, it is a true promise; he has promised us victory after digging the Trench'. But the hypocrites said: 'Are you not amazed that he is raising your hope for nothing and is promising you something which is clearly untrue. He informs you that he can see from Yathrib the palaces of al-Hira and the cities of Chosroes and that you will conquer them. All this while you are digging this ditch because of fear and are unable to show yourselves'. Allah then revealed in the Qur'an (And when the hypocrites, and those in whose hearts is a disease, were saying: Allah and His messenger promised us naught but delusion) [33:12], and Allah, exalted is He, revealed about this incident: (Say: O Allah! Owner of Sovereignty!)”.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou