And when Saul marched out with his army, he said: 'Allah will test you with a river. He who drinks from it shall cease to be one of mine but he who does not drink from it, except he who scoops up once with his hand, shall be of mine' But for a few of them, they all drank from it. And when he had crossed it with those who believed, they said: 'We have no power this day against Goliath and his soldiers' But those of them who reckoned they would meet Allah replied: 'Many a small band has, by the permission of Allah, vanquished a mighty army. Allah is with the patient' 249 And when they confronted Jalut and his armies they invoked, “Our Lord! Pour (bestow abundantly) on us patience (fortitude), and keep our feet steady, and help us against the disbelieving people.” 250 Then they vanquished them by the leave of Allah, and Da'ud slew Jalut, and Allah vouchsafed him dominion, and wisdom and taught him of that which He willed. And, if not for Allah's repelling people, some of them by means of others, the earth surely were corrupted; but Allah is Gracious unto the worlds. 251 These are the messages of God. We recite them to you in all truth, as indeed you are one of the apostles. 252 ۞ We gave some of Our Messengers preference over others. To some of them God spoke and He raised the rank of some others. We gave authoritative proofs to Jesus, son of Mary, and supported him by the Holy Spirit. Had God wanted, the generations who lived after those Messengers would not have fought each other after the authority had come to them. But they differed among themselves, some of them believed in the authority and others denied it. They would not have fought each other had God wanted, but God does as He wills. 253