And Allah is with the (steadfast) patient ones'.

And Allah is with the (steadfast) patient ones'." Traditions Traditions [^1] Muhammad ibn Yahya narrated from Muhammad ibn Ahmad from Muhammad ibn Khalid and al-Husayn ibn Sa'id from an-Nar ibn Suwayd from Yahya al-Halabi from Harun ibn Kharijah from Abu Basir from Abu Ja'far (as) saying in a tradition, inter alia: "And Allah reports the words of Talut: 'Surely Allah will try you with a stream; whoever then drink from it, he is not of me, and whoever does not taste of it, he is surely of me.' But all of them drank from it, except three hundred and thirteen men; among them were those who took a handful of water as well as those who did not drink at all.

When they went out against Goliath, those who had taken handful of water said, ' We have today no power against Goliath and his forces'; and those who had not taken it said, 'How often has a small party vanquished a numerous host by Allah's permission, and Allah is with the patient ones.' " (al-Kafi) The author ('Allamah Tabatabai) says: That there remained with Talut only three hundred and thirteen men (equal in number to the Muslim 'army' in the battle of Badr) is mentioned in numerous traditions from Shi'ah and Sunni chains.

The details that those who said: "We have today no power..." were those who had taken a handful of water, and those who said, **"** How often a small party..." were those who had not tasted it at all, may be inferred from the position of the exceptional clause in the verse,… " "So when they encountered Goliath and his troops, they said: 'Our Lord! Pour down upon us patience, and make our steps firm, and help us against the disbelieving people'.

" In this verse, the incident of those two forces facing each other is pointed out. It says: "So when they encountered Goliath and his troops, they said: '(Our Lord! Pour down upon us patience, and make our steps firm, and help us against the disbelieving people'." In fact, Saul and his troops asked for three things from their Lord in their prayer, and the prayer is well graded. First, patience and perseverance was prayed for. Their second beseech from Allah was steadfastness in the field.

They asked Him to make their steps firm in order that they would not flee. The first invocation, indeed, had an inward aspect while the second prayer had an apparent and outward aspect; and surely the firmness of step is one of the consequences of the spirit of patience and perseverance.