The saying of Allah, the Exalted:

﴿And when you arose from your family to appoint the believers their positions for battle. And Allah is Hearing and Knowing﴾ ﴿When two groups among you were about to lose heart, and Allah was their protector. And upon Allah let the believers rely﴾

Al-Tabari, may Allah have mercy on him, went to the opinion that this verse is connected in meaning to what preceded it from the verses. The apparent meaning is that it is the beginning of another matter. For that was a resistance concerning the hypocrites of the Jews, and this is the beginning of reproach of the believers regarding the matter of Uhud. The implied action in "when" is an unexpressed verb that can be understood as: "and remember." Al-Hasan said: This morning mentioned in this verse is for the appointing of the believers that took place in the Battle of the Confederates.

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

And the people disagreed with him. The majority hold that this was in the Battle of Uhud, and all these verses were revealed therein. It was from the matter of the Battle of Uhud that the polytheists gathered in three thousand men and aimed for the city to take revenge for their loss on the Day of Badr. They camped at Uhud on the Wednesday, the twelfth of Shawwal in the third year of the Hijrah, at the head of thirty-three months from the Hijrah. They remained there on Thursday, while the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, was in the city planning and waiting for the command of Allah, the Exalted. When it was the morning of Friday, the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, gathered the people and consulted them. He informed them that he had seen in his dream a cow being slaughtered and a dent in the blade of his sword, and that he was putting his hand in a strong armor. He interpreted it as the city, and he said to them, "I see that we should not go out to these disbelievers." Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul said to him: "Remain, O Messenger of Allah, and do not go out to them with the people. If they remain, they remain in the worst of confinement, and if they depart, they will leave disappointed. If they come to us in the city, we will fight them in the alleys, and the women and children will throw stones at them from the heights. By Allah, we have never fought an enemy in this city except that we defeated them, nor have we ever gone out from it to an enemy except that we overcame them." This opinion coincided with the opinion of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and the opinion of a group of the Emigrants and the Helpers. A group of righteous believers, among whom were those who had missed Badr, said: "O Messenger of Allah, go out with us to our enemy," and they encouraged the people and called for war. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, then prayed the Friday prayer with the people, and these callers to war had urged him. After his prayer, he entered his house and donned his armor. Those people regretted and said: "We have compelled the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him." When the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, came out to them in his armor, they said: "O Messenger of Allah, remain if you wish, for we do not want to compel you." The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "It is not appropriate for a Prophet, when he has donned his armor, to lay it down until he fights."

Then he went out with the people and marched until he drew near to the camp of the polytheists there. He spent that night there, and 'Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul became angry and said: 'They obeyed him and disobeyed me.' When it was the morning of Saturday, the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, resolved to march to confront the polytheists. He set out with a thousand men, but at that time 'Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul withdrew with three hundred of the people, from the hypocrites and followers, and they said: 'We think that you will not encounter any fighting.' The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, continued on with seven hundred men. At that time, the Banu Harithah from the Aws and the Banu Salamah from the Khazraj thought of retreating. They saw the multitude of the polytheists and the fewness of the Muslims, and they nearly faltered and failed, but Allah, glorified and exalted is He, protected them. Some of them encouraged one another, and they stood up with the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, continued until he overlooked the polytheists, and the people lined up. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, had appointed 'Abdullah ibn Jubair over the archers, and they were fifty men. He placed them to protect the mountain behind the Muslims and leaned himself against the mountain. When the battle became fierce, the polytheists were exposed and defeated. The women of the polytheists began to show their anklets while they were leaning against the side of a mountain. When the archers saw that, they said: 'The spoils! The spoils! O Muslims!' The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, had told them: 'Do not leave this place, even if you see us being taken by the birds.' 'Abdullah ibn Jubair and some of them said to them: 'Fear Allah and remain steadfast as your Prophet commanded you.' But they disobeyed and went away following others. Khalid ibn al-Walid had charged with a cavalry from behind the Muslims where the archers were. He attacked the people, and confusion fell upon the Muslims from their front and rear. A cry was raised: 'Muhammad has been killed!' The people faltered, and more than seventy of the Muslims were martyred. Al-Makki said: Malik, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 'Four of the emigrants were killed on the day of Uhud, and seventy of the Ansar.' The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, took refuge on the top of the mountain and surpassed the people.

This is a summary of the story, upon which the interpretation of the verse is based. The matter of 'Uhud' in its entirety and what transpired of actions and sayings is comprehensively covered in the books of biographies, and this commentary does not necessitate mentioning it.

Al-Makki narrated from al-Suddi what appears to indicate that the fighting occurred on Friday. Al-Tabari narrated from him that Abu Sufyan's arrival at Uhud was on the third of Shawwal, and all of that is weak. Al-Naqqash said: 'The battle of Uhud was on the eleventh of Shawwal,' and that is an error. Al-Tabari and others said: 'The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, set out on Friday to strategize with the people and consult them, which is what is referred to in His saying, glorified and exalted is He: 'You appoint the believers to positions for fighting.'

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 'Especially since the Messenger's setting out was based on his opinion that the people should not go out, so he had no doubt in himself that he would divide the quarters of the city among the tribes of the Ansar.'

And someone other than al-Tabari said: Rather, the rising of the Prophet ﷺ on the day of Friday after the prayer is his morning, and he assigned the believers at the time of the presence of the battle. It was said that this was in its night, and he called it morning since he had intended to plan and begin the matter from the time of the morning.

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

And especially since the Friday prayer might have been before noon, as has been reported in that regard in hadiths. Thus, the term morning comes firmly established. It was said that the mentioned morning is the morning of Saturday towards the battle. And since it was not in that night coinciding with the morning, it is as if he was with his family. He assigned the Muslims by his command the archers and other arrangements of his planning to the ranks of the people. And "to assign" means: to designate for them seats in which they can settle and remain. You say: I have assigned a place such-and-such, if you have settled in it firmly. And from it is His saying, the Most High: "We will settle in Paradise wherever we wish" [Az-Zumar: 74]. And from it is the saying of the Prophet ﷺ: "Whoever lies about me intentionally, let him take his seat in the Fire." And from it is the saying of the poet:

How many a righteous companion of mine, I have assigned him with my hands a grave.

And from it is the saying of al-A'sha:

And the Most Merciful did not assign your house a dwelling, In the eastern parts of the noble Safa and the sacred.

And His saying, the Most High: "seats" is the plural of seat, which is the place of sitting. This is like your saying: standings, but the term sitting is more indicative of stability, especially since the archers were indeed sitting. Likewise, the rows of the Muslims were initially, while the champions and the swift ones were moving around. And His saying: "And Allah is All-Hearing" means: what you say and what is said to you at the time of consultation and otherwise. And "when" the second is a substitute for the first, and "they intended" means: they wanted but did not act. And the failure in this context is the cowardice that nearly afflicted Banu Salamah and Banu Harithah. And the failure in the body is exhaustion and fatigue, and the failure in opinion is incapacity and confusion and the corruption of determination. And Jabir ibn Abdullah said: We wished that it had not been revealed, due to His saying, the Most High: "And Allah is their Protector."

And His saying: "And upon Allah let the believers rely" is a command that includes encouragement for the believers similar to what Banu Harithah and Banu Salamah did by marching with the Prophet ﷺ. And Abdullah ibn Mas'ud read: "You assign for the believers" with the preposition, and he read: "And Allah is their Protector" in the meaning of the two groups, not according to the wording.