And when their safety was far after the detachment of their hearts; especially since it was due to drowsiness; which is the farthest thing from that difficult position; and the tight place; He used the tool of distance; in His saying: ﴿Then He sent down upon you﴾. And when it indicated by the tool of elevation the greatness of safety; and it was connected with distress; and it did not take long after it; He affirmed the preposition; so He said: ﴿After the distress﴾; meaning: the mentioned one; while you are in the throes of the enemy; ﴿A security﴾; meaning: a great safety; then He replaced it - as a warning of what is in it of strangeness - with His saying: ﴿Drowsiness﴾; a definitive proof; for it can only be from safety; Al-Bukhari narrated in the tafsir; from Anas - may Allah be pleased with him - that Abu Talhah - may Allah be pleased with him - said: "Drowsiness covered us while we were in our ranks on the day of 'Uhud'; so my sword would fall from my hand; and I would take it; and it would fall; and I would take it again." And when it was only for some of them; he resumed his description with His saying: ﴿He covered a group of you﴾; and they are the believers; and he began to inform about the remaining ones with His saying: ﴿And another group﴾; meaning: others; from the hypocrites; ﴿Their souls had been preoccupied﴾; not with defending the religion; for they only sought their own salvation; and they found no way to that in what they thought due to the continuity of their terror; and the intensity of their panic; so they were punished for that by the fact that the mentioned safety did not occur for them; then he explained their concern; so he said: ﴿They think about Allah﴾; the One who encompasses the attributes of perfection; ﴿Other than the truth﴾; meaning: that His victory after this is impossible; or that if they had remained in the city, no one would have been killed; and similar to that; from the trivial words; and the corrupt assumptions that were opened by "if"; and the illusions; ﴿The thought of ignorance﴾; meaning: those who do not know - of the greatness of Allah - glorified and exalted is He - that what He intended was; and there is nothing other than it - what the followers of the messengers know.

Then he explained the thought with His saying: ﴿They say﴾; meaning: denying; because He did not make their opinion their opinion; and act according to its implications; in anger; and regret for their departure in this direction; and their not returning with Ibn Ubayy; after they had left; ﴿Is there for us in the matter﴾; meaning: the heard one; and since the questioning is in the meaning of denial; the tool of totality was established in His saying: ﴿Of anything﴾; as if it were said: So what is said to them? It was said: ﴿Say﴾; meaning: to them; in response to them; with contempt for them: ﴿Indeed, the matter﴾; meaning: the judgment that there is no other than it; ﴿All of it belongs to Allah﴾; meaning: that there is no equal to it; and there is nothing for you; nor for others from it; whether you wish or refuse; whether you fought or sat; whether you affirmed or fled.

And when He - glorified and exalted is He - related to them some of their affairs in this war; and clarified to them something of the benefits of what He had done with them; by His saying: ﴿If a wound should touch you﴾ [Aali 'Imran: 140]; and among that was what He revealed of the secrets of the hypocrites in this incident; in their accusing Allah and His Messenger; until it reached here; and their saying was not explicit in the accusation; as it could be interpreted as a question; He informed - glorified and exalted is He - of their deception; by His saying: ﴿They conceal﴾; meaning: they say that while concealing; ﴿in themselves what they do not disclose to you﴾; because Allah does not approve of it; then He clarified that after its generality; saying: ﴿They say: If we had any say in the matter﴾; meaning: the heard matter; ﴿we would not have been killed here﴾; because we used to remain in the city; and not go out to the enemy.

And when He - glorified and exalted is He - informed about them of what they concealed out of ignorance; thinking that caution would suffice against fate; He commanded him - glorified and exalted is He - to respond to them; by saying: ﴿Say: If you had been in your houses﴾; meaning: after your consensus that no one among you would go out; ﴿those for whom killing was decreed would have come out to their beds﴾; meaning: those which are truly their beds; and it is that by which they were killed; because what We have decreed cannot be repelled by anyone in any way; then He turned to what was known of its decree; and indicated it by the context; His saying: ﴿And to test﴾; meaning: those mentioned would have come out for His decree to be fulfilled; and His saying to you in the battle of Badr would be true: "If you ransom the captives; and do not kill them; a similar number will be killed among you in the coming year"; ﴿And to test Allah﴾; meaning: the One who encompasses all attributes of perfection; with this decree; ﴿what is in your hearts﴾; meaning: of faith; and hypocrisy; that He may act; in manifesting it from the unseen world to the world of testimony; as the act of the tester; as He did with what was found in this battle of the matters of reality; ﴿And to purify what is in your hearts﴾; meaning: to cleanse it and refine it from all the whispers that divert from the awareness of the love of this world; from the spoils that were the cause of the defeat; and others.

And He concluded with His saying: ﴿And Allah﴾; meaning: the One who has complete knowledge of everything; ﴿is All-Knowing of what is in the breasts﴾; encouraging; and frightening; and repelling what may be assumed from the mention of the test due to lack of knowledge of the hidden.

And when they were in this expedition, they suffered a great harm. However, it was due to some of them having a clear shortcoming. So He disciplined them for that. He forgave them - glorified and exalted is He - after that discipline; and He had mercy on them. He purified their hearts with this verse, with what is in it of clear reassurance; and with what is in it of an indication by gathering all the letters of the alphabet in it. This hints that their matter must be completed, just as the letters were completed in this verse. However, He began it with a tool of delay, indicating that it will only be after a long period, until the visions of the hearts, which He sealed with it, are polished. This is unlike what is in the other verse that gathers the letters at the end of the Surah of 'Al-Fath', which was revealed during 'Al-Hudaybiyah', where their return from it without reaching their goal distressed them - as will come, if Allah wills - glorified and exalted is He.