His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "Say to those who disbelieve, you will be defeated and gathered to Hell, and what an evil resting place it is." "Indeed, there has been for you a sign in the two armies that met; one army fighting in the way of Allah and another disbelieving. They saw them as twice their number with the eye. And Allah supports with His victory whom He wills. Indeed, in that is a lesson for those of vision." Ibn Kathir, Abu Amr, Asim, and Ibn Amer read: "you will be defeated and gathered" with the 'taa' from above, and "they see them" with the 'yaa' from below. Aban narrated from Asim: "you see them" with the 'taa' from above. Nafi' read all three with the 'taa' from above, and Hamzah read all three with the 'yaa' from below. The majority of scholars read with each of these readings. Ibn Abbas, Talhah ibn Musarif, and Abu Haywah read: "they see them" with the 'yaa' that is rounded. Abu Abdur Rahman read with the 'taa' from above rounded. There was a difference regarding who was commanded to be told among the disbelievers. It was said: they are all of his contemporaries among the disbelievers, and he was commanded to say to them this which contains news of the unseen and a warning that has certainly come true, by the grace of Allah. Disbelief was defeated and whoever died upon it went to Hell. Abu Ali inclined towards this in "Al-Hujjah" and it has been narrated that the intended meaning is the Jews of Medina. Ibn Abbas and others said: "When the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, defeated Quraysh on the Day of Badr and came to Medina, he gathered the Jews in the market of Banu Qaynuqa and said: 'O assembly of Jews, embrace Islam before you are struck with what struck Quraysh.' They said: 'O Muhammad, let not your soul deceive you that you killed a few from Quraysh who were inexperienced and did not know fighting. If you had fought us, you would have known that we are the people.' So Allah revealed in their words this verse." Another narration mentioned by Al-Naqqash states: "When the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, defeated Quraysh at Badr, the Jews said: 'This is the Prophet mentioned in our Book, and he is the one whose banner is never defeated.' Their fitnah increased regarding the matter, and their leaders and their devils said to them: 'Do not rush and wait until we see his matter in another encounter.' When Uhud occurred, all of them disbelieved and remained upon their first stance, saying: 'Muhammad is not the victorious Prophet.' So the verse was revealed regarding that, meaning say to these Jews: 'They will be defeated,' meaning Quraysh. This interpretation only aligns with the reading of "they will be defeated and gathered" with the 'yaa' from below. And whoever read with the 'taa', the meaning of the verse is: say to all the disbelievers these words. And whoever read with the 'yaa' from below, the meaning is: say to them, this is what it means. The reading of the 'taa' can also carry the interpretation mentioned earlier, meaning say to the Jews: 'Quraysh will be defeated.' Abu Ali favored the reading of the 'taa' over the direct address, and that those who disbelieved encompass both groups: the polytheists and the Jews, and both were defeated by the sword, tribute, and humiliation. And the gathering refers to the collection and bringing forth.

And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "And how evil is the resting place" means Hell. This is the apparent meaning of the verse. Mujahid said: The meaning is how evil is what they have prepared for themselves. So it is as if the meaning is: And how evil is their action that led them to Hell.

And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "Indeed, there has been for you a sign in the two armies"... The verse can be addressed to the believers, and it can be addressed to all the disbelievers, and it can be addressed to the Jews of Medina. And for each possibility, a group has spoken. So whoever sees that the address is to the believers, the meaning of the verse is to strengthen the souls and encourage them. Because when He addressed the disbelievers with what He was commanded, it was possible for the hypocrites and some of the weak believers to be deterred by that, as a speaker said on the day of the trench: "Muhammad promises us the treasures of Kisra and Caesar, while we do not feel safe for our lives in the religion." And as Adi ibn Hatim said when the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, informed him of the security that would come, I said to myself: "And where are the debauchers of Tayy? Those who ignited the lands?"... The hadith in its entirety, so the verse was revealed, strengthening the souls of the believers and clarifying the truth of what he informed them with the real example.

So whoever reads "you see them" with a 'taa' from above, then it is an address to all the believers, as a majority of them have seen that. The 'haa' and 'meem' in "you see them" refer to all the polytheists, and in "like them" refers to all the believers. And whoever reads with a 'yaa' from below, then the meaning is that the group of believers sees the group of disbelievers like the group of believers. And whoever sees that the address is to all the disbelievers, and whoever sees that it is to the Jews, then the verse for him is included in what Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, was commanded to say to them as an argument against them, and a clarification of the form of the previous warning that they will be defeated. So whoever reads "they see them" with a 'yaa' from below, the meaning is: the group of believers sees the group of disbelievers like the group of believers. And whoever reads with a 'taa', the meaning is: if you were present or if you had been present, and the expression is suitable for the clarity of the matter in itself and the certainty of it for every person in that era. And whoever reads with a 'taa' or a 'yaa' as a vowel, it is as if the meaning is: the belief in the weakening of all the disbelievers was merely an estimation and a conjecture, not certainty. Therefore, a kind of doubt was left in the expression. And that is because 'to see' - with a 'hamzah' pronounced as a 'dhammah' - you say it in what remains with you in which there is consideration, and 'I see' - with a 'hamzah' pronounced as a 'fathah' - you say it in what your consideration has been confirmed in. Abu al-Fath inclined towards this interpretation and it is correct. Abu Ali said: and the vision in this verse is one, and therefore it has extended to one object. And "like them" is in the accusative case as a description of the 'haa' and 'meem' in "you see them". The people have unanimously agreed that the subject of "you see" is the believers, and the attached pronoun is for the disbelievers, except what al-Tabari reported from a group who said: rather, Allah increased the number of believers in the eyes of the disbelievers until they appeared to them as double. Al-Tabari weakened this statement, and it is also rejected from various angles. Rather, Allah reduced every group in the eyes of the other, so that Allah may fulfill a matter that was done. So He reduced the disbelievers in the eyes of the believers so that they would become audacious and the enemy would be despised. And this is with the belief of the Prophet and his words, and the belief of those with understanding from his companions that they were from three hundred to a thousand. However, Allah removed from them the splendor and the spread of the armies and the magnificence of the arrangement, until Ibn Mas'ud said in some of what was narrated from him: I said to a man beside me, do you see them as seventy? He said: I think they are a hundred. When we took the captives, they informed us that they were a thousand. And Allah reduced the believers in the eyes of the disbelievers so that they would be deceived and not be cautious. And the reports have confirmed that the number of disbelievers at Badr was about a thousand above three hundred. And the number of believers was three hundred and fourteen men, and it was said: and thirteen. So the disbelievers were three times that of the believers. However, the Banu Zuhrah returned with al-Akhnas ibn Shariq, and Talib ibn Abi Talib returned along with many people until there remained for fighting those who were close to the like of them. And al-Naqqash mentioned something similar to this. The mention of Allah, the Exalted, of the two like them when He commanded them is certain, and no one has ever denied it. Al-Tabari reported from Ibn Abbas that the polytheists in the battle of Badr were six hundred and twenty-six men. And al-Zajjaj and some of the interpreters went to the view that they were about a thousand. And He showed them to the believers as like them only. He said: this reduction is in the other verse. Then He aided them against them while they knew that they were like them in number, because it was more known to the Muslims that a hundred of them would defeat two hundred of the disbelievers. And Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, narrated from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, that he said on the day of Badr: "The people are a thousand." And His saying, the Exalted: "For you is a sign" means a sign and a mark and a consideration. And the 'faction' is the group of people, named so because they are returned to in times of hardship. And al-Zajjaj said: the 'faction' is the group, derived from 'I struck his head with the sword'. And it is said: 'I struck him' if I cleaved him. And there is no disagreement that the reference with these two factions is to the day of Badr.

The majority of the people read "a group fights" with "group" in the nominative case, based on the beginning of a sentence, the meaning of which is: one of them is a group. Mujahid, Al-Hasan, Az-Zuhri, and Humayd read "a group" in the genitive case as a substitute. Among them are those who raised "disbelieving". And among them are those who lowered it as a conjunction. Ibn Abi Abla read "a group" in the accusative case, and likewise "disbelieving". Al-Zajjaj said: This can be understood as a state, as if he said: they met, a believing one and a disbelieving one, and it can be understood that he implies an action, meaning something like that. And "the sight of the eye" is in the accusative case as a source. And "supports" means: strengthens from "aid", which is strength.