What happened at the Battle of Hunayn, and what lesson did Allah teach the Muslims there?

Weeks after the conquest of Makkah, in Shawwāl of 8 AH, the tribes of Hawāzin and Thaqīf gathered against the Muslims, who marched out roughly twelve thousand strong — the largest force they had yet fielded — and, as the sīrah reports, some of them said, "We will not be defeated today for want of numbers." Ambushed by archers in the valley, the ranks broke and fled, and Allah revealed that on the day of Ḥunayn their great numbers availed them nothing and the earth closed in on them despite its spaciousness, then He sent down His tranquillity upon His Messenger and the believers and sent down forces they could not see. Al-Barāʾ ibn ʿĀzib was asked whether the Prophet ﷺ fled that day and testified that he did not: he stood firm on his white mule while the arrows of Hawāzin fell, saying, "I am the Prophet, this is no lie; I am the son of ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib." When he afterwards gave large shares of the spoils to those newly reconciled to Islam and some of the Anṣār felt it, he asked whether they were not pleased that the people go home with sheep and camels while they go home with the Messenger of Allah — and they answered that they were well pleased. The lesson is that victory comes from Allah alone, never from numbers.

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