Short answer
Two stand out: the Romans' comeback against Persia, and the death of Abu Lahab as an unbeliever. Persia had crushed the Roman armies, yet the Qur'an said the Romans would win "within a few years". The Arabic word, bid', means a small number under ten, usually three to nine. The Romans lost near Antioch in 613 and lost Jerusalem in 614. The historian Edward Gibbon wrote that no prophecy could have seemed further from coming true. Yet in 622 the emperor Heraclius beat the Persians, and by 628 Persia had asked for peace. The Qur'an also said that the Prophet's (ﷺ) uncle Abu Lahab would burn in the Fire. That meant he would die rejecting Islam. He lived for years afterwards, and one sentence, even a false one, could have cast doubt on it. He never said it. Islam teaches that these are signs the Qur'an is from God (﷾).
Full explanation
The Romans at their lowest
In 613 the Roman army was badly beaten near Antioch. The Persians then pushed forward on every front, taking Jerusalem in 614 and Egypt soon after. Edward Gibbon was an English historian of the 18th century who did not believe in the Qur'an. He judged that at the time no prophecy could have been further from coming true.
Describes the Persian war under Khusro II. After a heavy Byzantine defeat near Antioch in 613 the Persians advanced on every front, taking Jerusalem in 614 and then Egypt, while the Avars pressed from the north, and the empire seemed close to collapse. Heraclius began his counter-offensive in 622 and won his first victory over the Persians that year.
“At the time when this prediction is said to have been delivered, no prophecy could be more distant from its accomplishment, since the first twelve years of Heraclius announced the approaching dissolution of the empire.”
What the Qur'an foretold
The Qur'an announced the Roman defeat and said that after it the Romans would be victorious within a few years. The Arabic word translated "a few" is bid'. The classical dictionaries explain it as a small number, most often three to nine. So the forecast named a side, an outcome and a time limit, at the moment when that side looked finished.
“The Roman Empire has been defeated- In a land close by; but they, (even) after (this) defeat of theirs, will soon be victorious- Within a few years. With Allah is the Decision, in the past and in the Future: on that Day shall the Believers rejoice-”
Gathers the classical Arabic dictionaries. Under the word bid' it records an indefinite small number below ten, most often explained as from three to nine.
How it came true
In 622 Heraclius, the Roman emperor, opened his counter-offensive and won his first victory over a Persian army. That was within nine years of the defeat at Antioch. He then carried the war into Persian lands and beat the Persians near Nineveh in 627. In 628 Persia asked for peace and agreed to hand back the lands it had taken.
Describes the Persian war under Khusro II. After a heavy Byzantine defeat near Antioch in 613 the Persians advanced on every front, taking Jerusalem in 614 and then Egypt, while the Avars pressed from the north, and the empire seemed close to collapse. Heraclius began his counter-offensive in 622 and won his first victory over the Persians that year.
A history of the Roman (Byzantine) emperor Heraclius. It records the Persian conquests of Roman lands, including Jerusalem in 614, and Heraclius' counter-campaigns from 622, which ended with his victory near Nineveh in 627 and the Persian surrender of the conquered lands.
- 613
The Romans are crushed
The Roman army is badly beaten near Antioch. The Persians push forward on every front.
- 614
Jerusalem is lost
The Persians take Jerusalem, and Egypt soon after. The Romans look finished.
- At their lowest
What the Qur'an foretold
The Qur'an says the defeated Romans will be victorious within a few years. The Arabic word for “a few”, bid', means a small number, most often three to nine.
- 622
The first Roman victory
The emperor Heraclius beats a Persian army in the field, within nine years of the defeat at Antioch.
- 628
Persia asks for peace
Persia asks for peace and agrees to hand back the lands it had taken.
Edward Gibbon, a historian who did not believe in the Qur'an, judged that at the time no prophecy could have been further from coming true.
Abu Lahab, who could have proved it false
Abu Lahab was the Prophet's (ﷺ) uncle and one of his fiercest enemies. The Prophet (ﷺ) first called the clans of Mecca together to warn them, and Abu Lahab cursed him. The surah that bears his name was then revealed. It says he will burn in the Fire, which means he would die an unbeliever. He lived for years after it was recited in Mecca. He only had to say he was a Muslim, even falsely, to cast doubt on it. He never did. He died a few days after the news of Badr reached Mecca, still an enemy of Islam. Badr was the first major battle between the Muslims and Mecca.
“Perish the hands of the Father of Flame! Perish he! No profit to him from all his wealth, and all his gains! Burnt soon will he be in a Fire of Blazing Flame!”
Ibn Abbas reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) climbed the hill of al-Safa in Mecca and called the clans of Quraysh together to warn them. Abu Lahab said: may you perish, is this what you gathered us for? Then Surat al-Masad, "Perish the hands of Abu Lahab", was revealed.
Reports that Abu Lahab stayed behind in Mecca when the Quraysh marched to Badr, and that he died soon after the battle, still an enemy of the Prophet (ﷺ) and of Islam.
The Bible's own test for a prophecy
Deuteronomy, a book of the Bible, gives the test. If what a prophet says in God's (﷾) name does not come to pass, God (﷾) did not speak it. The Qur'an's forecasts were made in public, where enemies could check them. One named a time limit, and the other depended on an enemy's own choice. Both passed that test. Deuteronomy adds that a sign which comes true must not lead to other gods (13:1-3). The Qur'an calls to the God (﷾) of Abraham alone.
“When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.”
“If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”
“The Roman Empire has been defeated- In a land close by; but they, (even) after (this) defeat of theirs, will soon be victorious- Within a few years. With Allah is the Decision, in the past and in the Future: on that Day shall the Believers rejoice-”
“Perish the hands of the Father of Flame! Perish he! No profit to him from all his wealth, and all his gains! Burnt soon will he be in a Fire of Blazing Flame!”
Answering the sceptic
Gibbon, Decline and Fall, ch. 46, note 69
In a footnote to the same passage Gibbon calls the Qur'an's forecast a conjecture or guess of Muhammad's (ﷺ), and complains that the French writer Boulainvilliers presented it as an evident prophecy of a future event.
Cited for
Gibbon called it a conjecture: with two empires at war, anyone might guess that the loser would recover.
The response
A guess would have to back the side that looked finished. It would have to set a limit of a few years. It would also have to be announced in Mecca, where enemies could mock it if it failed. Gibbon himself wrote that no prophecy could then be more distant from fulfilment. And it stands beside the Abu Lahab prophecy. No guess could secure that, because it depended on a living enemy's own choice.
Where it lands — A forecast made against every appearance, with a deadline, that came true is not explained by calling it a guess.
Perspectives
Sceptical reading
A sceptic can say the Romans' comeback was a lucky guess about two empires at war. Gibbon called it a conjecture.
Gibbon called the forecast a conjecture or guess rather than a prophecy.
Rebuttal
This was no safe guess: it backed the side that looked finished, within a few years. It was made in Mecca, where enemies could mock it. Gibbon himself wrote that no prophecy could then be more distant from fulfilment.
The Islamic perspective
The Qur'an made forecasts that could have been proved false in the lifetime of those who heard them, and they came true. Only the One who knows what is to come could make them. This is one of the signs that the Qur'an is from God (﷾).
The Qur'an foretold a Roman victory over Persia within bid' years. That is a small number, usually explained as three to nine.
The Romans were beaten near Antioch in 613. They won their first victory over the Persians in 622, and forced Persia to ask for peace in 628.
Gibbon was no believer in the Qur'an. Yet he judged that when it was made, no prophecy could be more distant from fulfilment.
Abu Lahab died an enemy of Islam, as Surat al-Masad said he would.
Abu Lahab lived for years after the surah was recited, and never professed Islam. Had he professed it, that alone would have cast doubt on the surah.
By the Bible's own test, a prophet whose word fails has not spoken from God (﷾). The Qur'an's forecasts did not fail.