'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' Allah, the Exalted, said: "And certainly Allah fulfilled His promise to you when you were killing them by His permission, until when you faltered and disputed in the matter and disobeyed after what He showed you of what you love. Among you are those who want this world, and among you are those who want the Hereafter. Then He turned you away from them to test you, and certainly He has forgiven you. And Allah is the Lord of bounty upon the believers." The address in these verses is in the plural form of the believers, even though the matters for which Allah, the Exalted, admonished them did not occur to all of them. Therefore, there are aspects of eloquence: among them is the admonition of all and their rebuke, as whoever does not act is expected to act if not rebuked. Among them is the concealment and preservation of those who acted. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, had promised the believers victory that day, based on the word of Allah, the Exalted, if they were patient and diligent. So Allah fulfilled the promise first, and that is because the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, lined up the Muslims that day and arranged the archers, as we have mentioned at the beginning of the interpretation of these verses in the story of Uhud. Ali ibn Abi Talib confronted Abu Sa'd ibn Abi Talhah, who was the bearer of the banner of the polytheists. Al-Zubair and Abu Dujanah charged against the army of the polytheists. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, rallied the people, and Hamzah ibn Abd al-Muttalib and Asim ibn Abi al-Aqlah fought valiantly, and the polytheists were defeated, and twenty-two men were killed among them. This is the meaning of His saying, the Exalted: "when you were killing them by His permission." Killing is the decisive act. It is said that he killed them if he eradicated them by killing. And the cold kills the plants. And Ru'ba said: If we complained of a year that is killing, it consumes after the green the dry. Some people said: It is derived from the sense, and the meaning in 'killing' is that it corrupts the senses. Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This is weak. And 'permission' is the enabling with knowledge of what is enabled. And His saying, the Exalted: "until when you faltered" can be understood that 'until' is merely a limit, as if He said: until you faltered. This is supported by the fact that 'when' means 'as' because the matter had already occurred, and it is merely a recounting of a state, so 'when' suffices in this regard without a response. The more apparent and stronger view is that 'when' is in its usual sense and requires a response, and 'until' is as if it is a starting particle similar to its entry into sentences. The grammarians differed regarding the response of 'when.' One group said that the response is His saying: "you disputed," and the 'and' is extra. Al-Mahdawi reported from Abu Ali that he said: The response is His saying: "He turned you away," and 'then' is extra. Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And this saying does not resemble the view of Abu Ali. And the school of Sibawayh, Al-Khalil, and the masters of the craft is that the answer is omitted and implied, its estimation being: you were defeated and the like. And failure is the feeling of inability and the abandonment of effort, and this is what a group did on that day. The dispute was that which occurred among the archers. Some of them said: 'The spoils, the spoils! Join us with the Muslims,' and some of them said: 'Rather, we will remain as we were commanded.' And 'you disobeyed' is an expression of the departure of those who left from the archers until Khalid ibn al-Walid was able to take advantage of the Muslims' vulnerability.

And His saying, the Exalted, ﴿After He showed you what you love﴾ means after the defeat of the people. Zubair ibn al-Awwam said: By Allah, I saw myself looking at the servants of Hind bint Utbah and her companions, they were rolling up their sleeves and fleeing, with little or much left to take from them, when the archers leaned towards the army as we revealed the people from them, wanting to plunder, and they left our backs exposed to the cavalry, so we were attacked from behind us. And a caller shouted: 'Indeed, Muhammad has been killed,' so we turned back, and the people turned back upon us.

And His saying, the Exalted, ﴿Among you is he who wants this world﴾ is news about those who were eager for the spoils, and wealth was their concern. This was said by Ibn Abbas and the other interpreters. Abdullah ibn Mas'ud said: I did not think that any of the companions of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, wanted this world until it was revealed to us on the day of Uhud: ﴿Among you is he who wants this world﴾.

And His saying, the Exalted, ﴿And among you is he who wants the Hereafter﴾ is news about the steadfastness of those who remained with Abdullah ibn Jubair in compliance with the command until they were killed. This includes Anas ibn al-Nadr and all those who strove and did not waver among the believers.

And His saying, the Exalted, 'to test you' means to bring down upon you that trial of killing and purification.

And His saying, the Exalted, ﴿And indeed, He has pardoned you﴾ is an indication that the sin deserved more than what occurred. And this is a warning, and the meaning is: and indeed, He has pardoned you by not annihilating you. So it is as if He said: and indeed, He has preserved you. And it is possible that it is news that He has pardoned their sins in the story of Uhud, so it would be like the pardon mentioned later. And according to the first interpretation, Ibn Jurayj, Ibn Ishaq, and a group of interpreters said: Al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Hasan said: 'Seventy of them were killed, and the uncle of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, was killed, and he was struck in his face and his canine was broken. And indeed, the pardon is that He did not annihilate them. These are with the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and in the path of Allah, they are angry for Allah, fighting the enemies of Allah. They were prohibited from something and they neglected it, so by Allah, they were not left until they were overwhelmed by this grief. And today, the most wicked of the wicked commits every major sin, and engages in every calamity, and drags his garments over it, claiming that there is no harm upon him. So he will surely know.