Who are the Romans mentioned in the Qur’an, "and after their defeat, they will be victorious"? What were the borders of their empire and their nationality at that time? And are they related to the future conquest of Italy promised by the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him?

The intent behind "al-Rūm" in the Holy Quran refers to the Romans who inhabited Sham (Levant) and its surrounding areas. The verses were revealed when the Romans were defeated by the Persians, and they prophesied that the Romans would defeat the Persians within a few years, which indeed happened.

The Romans were a mixed nation comprising Greeks, Slavs, and native Romans from Italy. Their kingdom was formed from this mixture, and the Arabs called them "al-Rūm" to distinguish them from the Latin Romans, also naming them "Bani al-Asfar" (Sons of the Yellow). They had a long history of interactions and wars with the Romans, and with the expansion of the Roman Empire, Greece and many other regions came under its rule. After the division of the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Constantinople became the Kingdom of the Rūm, known as the Eastern Kingdom.

The defeat mentioned in the verse occurred in 615 CE when Khosrow, the King of Persia, invaded Sham and Palestine. It was a great defeat for the Romans in the outskirts of Sham, near the lands of the Arabs, which the verse refers to as "the lowest land" (adna al-ard).