When idh substitutes for yawma ‘the day’ you were on the nearer bank the one nearer to Medina read ‘udwa or ‘idwa meaning ‘the side of a valley’ and they were on the yonder bank the one further from it and the cavalcade the caravan was in a place below you the coastal side; and had you and the enemy band agreed to meet for battle you would have surely failed to keep meeting; but He brought you together at a different time that God might conclude a matter that was to be done through His knowledge — namely the victory of Islam and the obliteration of unbelief — He did this so that he who perished might perish might be a disbeliever even after a clear proof that is after a manifest proof has been established against him namely the triumph of the believers despite their small number over the larger enemy army; and that he who survived might live might believe after a clear proof; surely God is Hearing Knowing.
