Diplomacy · a Light

A treaty that looked like defeat was called a victory

In 628 the Prophet ﷺ set out for Makkah to perform the lesser pilgrimage and was stopped at Hudaybiyyah. The terms he accepted looked bad to his companions: turn back this year, a ten year truce, and any Makkan who defected to him must be returned while any of his who went the other way need not be. Umar objected openly. Even the wording was conceded, with the document dropping the titles Quraysh refused. Surah Al-Fath, revealed on the way back, calls it a clear victory. Within two years the truce had let people move and talk freely, conversions rose sharply, and Makkah was taken with almost no fighting.

Hudaybiyyah, outside Makkah · 628 CE

Source · Qur'an 48:1