'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful'

His saying, exalted is He:

﴿Did you not see those who went out from their homes while they were thousands, fearing death? Allah said to them, 'Die!' Then He brought them to life. Indeed, Allah is full of grace towards people, but most people do not give thanks.﴾

This is the vision of the heart meaning: Did you not know? The speech according to Sibawayh means an alertness to the matter of those, and this vision does not require two objects.

The story of these people, according to Al-Dahhak, is that they were a group from the Children of Israel who were commanded to fight. They feared death by being killed in battle, so they left their homes fleeing from that. Allah caused them to die to make them aware that nothing can save them from death. Then He brought them to life and commanded them to fight by saying: ﴿And fight in the way of Allah﴾ [Al-Baqarah: 190] the verse.

And a group of Jews told Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, that a group from the Children of Israel was struck by a plague, so they fled from their homes to escape it. Allah caused them to die, and the rest of the Children of Israel built a wall over them. When their bones decayed, Allah sent Hizqil the Prophet, peace be upon him, who prayed to Allah, and He brought them back to life for him.

And Al-Suddi said: 'They are a nation that existed before Wasit, in a village called Dhawardan, where a plague struck them, and they fled from it. They were thirty-three thousand in a long narration. The verse was revealed about them.' He said: 'They fled from the plague,' according to Al-Hasan and Amr ibn Dinar. And Al-Naqqash narrated that they fled from fever. And Mujahid narrated that when they were brought back to life, they returned to their people to inform them, but the appearance of death was on their faces, and no one among them wore a garment except that it became a filthy shroud until they died at their appointed times that were written for them.

And Ibn Jurayj narrated from Ibn Abbas that they were from the Children of Israel, and that they were forty thousand and eight thousand, and that they were caused to die and then brought back to life. The scent remained on that tribe from the Children of Israel until today. Allah commanded them to fight again, and that is His saying: ﴿And fight in the way of Allah﴾ [Al-Baqarah: 190] the verse.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And all of this story has weak chains of narration. What is necessary from the verse is that Allah, the Exalted, informed His Prophet Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, of news in the form of alertness and stopping about a group of humans who left their homes fleeing from death. Allah caused them to die and then brought them to life for them to see, and for all who come after them to know that death is indeed in the hands of Allah and not in the hands of others. Therefore, there is no meaning to the fear of a fearful one, nor to the delusion of a deluded one. And Allah, the Exalted, made this verse a prelude before His command to the believers from the Ummah of Muhammad regarding fighting. This is the saying of Al-Tabari, and it is the apparent arrangement of the verse. As for the sources of the stories in this narrative, they have additions that I have summarized due to their weakness.

People have differed regarding the word "أُلُوفٌ". The majority said: it is the plural of ألف. Some of them said: they were eighty thousand. Ibn Abbas said: they were forty thousand, and it was said: they were thirty thousand. All of this applies to "أُلُوفٌ", thus it is a plural of many. Ibn Abbas also said: they were eight thousand, and he also said: four thousand. This is weakened by the word "أُلُوفٌ" because it is a plural of many. Ibn Zayd said regarding the word "أُلُوفٌ": its meaning is: they were united, but this group opposed and fled from death and sought life, so Allah caused them to die in their escape, according to their claim.

And His saying, the Exalted: "So Allah said to them: Die" is merely an exaggeration in expressing His action towards them, as if it were said to someone: Die, and he died.

It has been narrated that two angels called to them: Die, and they died. The meaning is that Allah spoke to them through the two angels. This death is the apparent meaning of the verse, and what has been narrated in its stories is that it is a true death in which the souls departed from the bodies. If that is the case, then it is not the death of their appointed time, but Allah made it for these people like an illness or an incident that occurs to humans.

And His saying, the Exalted: "Indeed, Allah is the Possessor of Grace upon the people" is a reminder of Allah's grace upon these people whom He favored with blessings and commanded them to strive, and He commanded them not to attribute strength and power except to Him, as He commanded all of creation to do so. They did not thank Him for His blessings in all of this, but they took control and thought that their strength and efforts would save them. This verse serves as a warning to all people against such actions, meaning: people should thank Allah for His favor in creating them and providing for them, and guiding them with commands and prohibitions, so that they would strive to comply with them and not seek to evade them. His specification of the majority indicates the lesser of the grateful.