And when Saul marched out with his army, he warned: "Allah is going to put you to a test by the side of a river: whoso drinks of its water shall cease to be my companion: he alone shall be~my companion who does not quench his thirst with its water: one may, however, take except a few, drank their fill of it. Afterwards when Saul, and those who had believed with him, crossed the river and advanced forward, the former said to Saul, "We have no power left this day to fight against Goliath and his hosts." But those who believed that one Day they shall meet Allah, declared, "lt has often been that a small host has, by Allah's grace, overcome a big host: for Allah is with those who show fortitude." 249 When they appeared to Goliath and his soldiers, they said: 'Lord, pour upon us patience. Make us firm of foot and give us victory against the nation of unbelievers' 250 They defeated their enemy through God's will. David slew Goliath and God granted David the kingdom and wisdom and also taught him whatever He wanted. Had God not made one group of people repel the other, the earth would have become full of corruption, but God is generous to His creatures. 251 These are the portents of Allah which We recite unto thee (Muhammad) with truth, and lo! thou art of the number of (Our) messengers; 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