His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "When you were ascending and did not turn to anyone, while the Messenger was calling you from behind you. So He rewarded you with grief upon grief, so that you would not grieve over what had escaped you nor over what had befallen you. And Allah is All-Aware of what you do." Then He sent down upon you after the grief a security, a slumber that overcame a group of you, while another group was anxious for themselves."

The operative word in "When" is His saying: "He forgave."

And the majority of the people read: "you were ascending" with a dammah on the ta and a kasrah on the ‘ayn from 'as‘ada', and its meaning is: went forth on the earth. In the reading of Ubayy ibn Ka‘b: "When you were ascending in the valley."

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

And the 's‘aid' is the surface of the earth, and 's‘a'dah' is a name from the names of the earth. So 'as‘ada' means: he entered into the 's‘aid', just as 'asbaha' means he entered into the morning, and so on. The Arabs say: "We ascended from Makkah and others," when they set out on a long journey. And Abu Ubaidah recited for the camel driver: (p-389)

"You used to weep for the ascent, but now you have declared and the driver has called out."

And Hasan ibn Abi Hasan, Abu Abdur-Rahman, Al-Yazidi, Mujahid, and Qatadah read: "When you were ascending" with a fatha on the ta and ‘ayn, from 's‘a'ida' if he rose, and the meaning of this is an ascent from 's‘a'ida' in the mountain, and the first reading is more common.

And His saying, exalted is He: "and you did not turn" is an exaggeration in the description of defeat, just as Durayd said: "And does anything stop the defeated?" And this is more severe than the saying of Imru’ al-Qais:

"........................ ∗∗∗ Brother of effort, he does not turn to one who has been hindered."

And Ibn Muhaisin and Ibn Kathir in the narration of Shibl read: "When you were ascending and did not turn" with a ya in both regarding the mention of the unseen. And some of the reciters read: "and you did not turn" with a hamzah on the waaw that is damm, and this is a dialect. And some of them read: "and you did not turn" with a dammah on the laam and one waaw, and this is a reading that is compounded from a dialect of the hamzah of the damm, then the movement of the hamzah was transferred to the laam and one of the two silent waaws was omitted. And Al-Amash and Asim in the narration of Abu Bakr read: "you turn" with a dammah on the ta, from 'alawaa', and this is a dialect. And Humayd ibn Qays read: "to one" with a dammah on the alif and ha, meaning the mountain, and the one intended by this is the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, because he was on the mountain, and the famous reading is stronger because the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, was not on the mountain except after the people fled from him, and this situation of their ascending was while he was calling them, and it has been narrated that he was calling: "O My servants of Allah!" and the people were fleeing.

And in His saying, exalted is He: "from behind you" is praise for the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, for that is the position of the brave in the rear of the people, and from it is the saying of Al-Zubayr ibn Batta: "What did our advance guard do when we carried (p-390) and our protector when we fled?" And likewise, the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, was the bravest of the people, and from it is the saying of Salamah ibn Al-Akwa‘: "When the battle became fierce, we took refuge with the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him."

And His saying, exalted is He: "So He rewarded you" means: He recompensed you for your action, and grief was named a reward in the sense that it stood in this calamity as a reward, and this is like His saying:

The greeting among them is a type of pain. And as for the saying of another: "I fear that Ziyad's gift may be a black cloud or a darkened one." So he made the chains and whips a gift, and 'muhadrajah' means 'darkened.'

The people differed in the meaning of His saying, the Exalted: "grief upon grief." Some said: the meaning is that He rewarded you with grief because of the grief that you brought upon the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and all the believers, due to your failure, your disputes, and your disobedience.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: In this case, the 'ba' (ب) is the 'ba' of cause.

And some said: the meaning is that He rewarded you with grief because of the grief that befell you at the hands of the disbelievers on the Day of Badr.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: In this case, the 'ba' is the 'ba' of equivalence, as Abu Sufyan said: "A day for a day of Badr, and war is a back-and-forth." A large group of interpreters said: the meaning is that He rewarded you with grief upon grief, or grief along with grief, and this is the 'ba' of mere genitive.

They differed in the order of these two griefs. Qatadah and Mujahid said: The first grief is that they heard: "Indeed, Muhammad has been killed," and the second is the killing and the wounds inflicted upon them. And Al-Rabi and Qatadah also said the opposite of this order. And Al-Suddi, Mujahid, and others said: Rather, the first grief is their killing and their wounds and everything that occurred in that predicament, and the second grief is the appearance of Abu Sufyan over the Prophet and those who were with him.

That is because the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, was calling the people that day until he reached a group of his companions who had climbed a rock on the slope of the mountain. He walked towards them, and a man aimed at him with an arrow to shoot him. He said: "I am the Messenger of Allah," and they rejoiced at that, and he, peace be upon him, was happy when he saw his companions resisting. Then they began to regret what they had missed of victory and about those who had died among them. While they were in that state, Abu Sufyan appeared to them from above on many horses, so they forgot what had befallen them initially, and the matter of Abu Sufyan became a concern for them. The Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said: "They should not overpower us. O Allah, if this group is killed, do not let You be worshipped." Then he urged his companions, and they threw stones at them, and Umar ibn al-Khattab kept urging them until they brought them down.

The narrations regarding this story from the defeat of Uhud differ greatly, for the matter is terrifying, and everyone described what they saw and heard. Ka'b ibn Malik said: "I was the first to distinguish the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him; I saw his eyes shining beneath the helmet." It has been narrated that the overwhelming cavalry was indeed that of Khalid ibn al-Walid, and that Abu Sufyan approached while the Prophet, peace be upon him, was in the crag of the mountain. Abu Sufyan had much to say in that situation, and Umar had a preserved discussion with him, which I have summarized as it does not pertain to the verse.

And His saying, the Exalted: "So that you do not grieve over what has escaped you" means: from the spoils, and "and what befell you" means: from the killing, wounding, and the humiliation of defeat, and what was taken from your Prophet.

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

And the 'lam' from His saying: "so that" is related to "He rewarded you," meaning: so that you know that what has befallen you is only due to your own wrongdoing. You have harmed yourselves. It is the habit of humans that the perpetrator of a sin endures the punishment. Most of the anxiety and sorrow of the punished is due to their belief in their own innocence. And in His saying, the Exalted: "And Allah is All-Aware of what you do," there is a warning.

Then Allah, the Exalted, mentioned the matter of the drowsiness that He granted the believers, which enveloped the people of sincerity. This was when Abu Sufyan departed from the battlefield. The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said to Ali in the presence of his companions who were gathered at that time: "Go and see the people. If they have moved away from the horses, then they are heading to Mecca. If they are on their horses, then they are heading to Medina. So fear Allah and be patient." He prepared them for battle. Ali went and then returned, informing that they had moved away from the horses and were sitting on their belongings. The firm believers who believed the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, became assured. Allah cast drowsiness upon them, while the hypocrites and those in whose hearts is a disease did not believe. They thought that Abu Sufyan was surely heading to Medina, so none of them fell asleep. Their concern was only for their worldly affairs. Abu Talha said: "I slept that day until my sword fell from my hand several times." And Al-Zubair ibn Al-Awwam said: "I raised my head on the day of Uhud from sleep and looked at the companions of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and there was not one of them except that he was leaning under his shield." Ibn Mas'ud said: "We dozed off on the day of Uhud, and drowsiness in battle is a security from Allah, while drowsiness in prayer is from Satan.

The majority of the people read "security" with an open 'mim'. Ibn Muhaisin and Al-Nakha'i read it "safety" with a silent 'mim'. Both have the meaning of safety, and the open 'mim' is more eloquent. His saying: "drowsiness" is a substitute. Ibn Kathir, Nafi', Asim, Abu Amr, and Ibn Amir read: "envelops" with a 'ya', attributing the action to the pronoun of the substitute. Hamzah and Al-Kisai read: "envelops" with a 'ta', attributing the action to the pronoun of the original word. The 'wa' in His saying, the Exalted: "And a group had their hearts preoccupied" is a 'wa' of the state, as you say: "I came and Zayd is standing." This was said by Sibawayh and others. Al-Zajjaj said: It is also permissible that the news of His saying: "And a group" is His saying: "they think" and "had preoccupied them" is a description of the group.

And His saying, the Exalted: "Their souls had preoccupied them" most of the commentators, including Qatadah, Al-Rabi', Ibn Ishaq, and others, went to the meaning that the word is from the worry which means grief and sorrow. The meaning is that their sick souls and their bad assumptions brought them worry out of fear of being killed and losing wealth. The Arabs say: "The thing has preoccupied me" if it brought worry. Some of the commentators mentioned that the word is from your saying: "He intended to do something" if he wanted to do it.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And the meaning is: Their souls were concerned with revealing and rejecting the religion. This is the saying of those who said: Muhammad has been killed, so let us return to our original religion, and similar sayings.

**His saying, exalted is He: ﴿They think of Allah that which is not true, the thought of ignorance. They say: Is there for us any portion of the matter? Say: Indeed, the matter is entirely for Allah. They conceal within themselves what they do not reveal to you. They say: If we had any portion of the matter, we would not have been killed here. Say: If you had been in your homes, those for whom killing was decreed would have gone out to their beds. And so Allah may test what is in your breasts and may purify what is in your hearts. And Allah is Knowing of that which is in the breasts.﴾.

(p-394) His saying, exalted is He: ﴿that which is not true﴾ means: They think that Islam is not true and that the matter of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, will diminish and go away. And His saying: ﴿the thought of ignorance﴾; the majority of people have gone to the meaning of the period of ancient ignorance before Islam. This is as he said: "the zeal of ignorance" and "the adornment of ignorance," and as you say: the poetry of ignorance. And as Ibn Abbas said: I heard my father in the time of ignorance saying: 'Give us a cup full.' Some of the interpreters went to say that in this verse he meant the thought of the ignorant group, referring to Abu Sufyan and those with him. The matter is possible, and this direction was taken by Qatadah and Al-Tabari.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿They say: Is there for us any portion of the matter?﴾ is a narration of words they said. Qatadah and Ibn Jurayj said: It was said to Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul: The Banu Khazraj have been killed, and he said: Is there for us any portion of the matter? He meant that the opinion is not ours, and if we had any share of it, we would have heard from our opinion, so no one would have been killed. This is from them a saying with two meanings, and it is as if their words imply disbelief and hypocrisy, meaning: We have no share in the matter of Allah, nor are we upon truth in following Muhammad. This was mentioned by Al-Mahdawi and Ibn Furak, but it is weakened by the fact that the response to them came because their words imply a bad opinion about going out, and that if they had not gone out, no one would have been killed.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿Say: Indeed, the matter is entirely for Allah.﴾ is an objection during the speech that is eloquent.

And the majority of the reciters read: "entirely" with the accusative to emphasize the matter, because "entirely" means all together. Abu Amr ibn Al-Ala read: "All of it is for Allah" with the nominative of "all" as a subject and predicate. The people preferred the reading of the majority because the emphasis is more fitting with the word "all." And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿They conceal within themselves what they do not reveal to you﴾ can be interpreted as reporting their concealment with such words that are not purely disbelief, but rather ignorance. It can also be interpreted as reporting what they conceal of disbelief that they cannot reveal more than these inclinations. And He, exalted is He, reported about them in general without specification, and this was His tradition with the hypocrites. There is no deity except Him.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿They say, 'If we had any say in the matter, we would not have been killed here'﴾ is a statement heard from Mu'attib ibn Qushayr, who is suspected of hypocrisy. And Zubair ibn al-Awwam said in what al-Tabari narrated from him: By Allah, it is as if I hear the words of Mu'attib ibn Qushayr, my brother from Banu Amr ibn Awf, while drowsiness overcomes me. I hear him only as if in a dream when he said: 'If we had any say in the matter, we would not have been killed here.'

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

And the words of Mu'attib can carry meanings similar to the words of Abdullah ibn Ubayy. And this Mu'attib is among those who witnessed Badr; this was mentioned by Ibn Ishaq and others. And Ibn Abd al-Barr said: He witnessed the Aqabah, and that is an error. The correct view is that he did not witness the Aqabah.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿Say, 'If you had been in your houses'﴾... The verse is a response to the statements and an indication that the lifespan of every person is indeed one. So whoever is not killed will die at that appointed time in the manner that Allah, exalted is He, has decreed. And if he is killed, that is what was predetermined in the previous decree.

And the majority of people read 'in your houses' with a dammah on the ba. Some of the reciters, which is one of the ways of the seven, read 'in your houses' with a kasrah on the ba. And the majority of people read 'they would have emerged' with a fathah on the ra and ba, meaning: they would have become in the open from the earth. And Abu Haywah read 'they were brought forth' with a dammah on the ba and a kasrah on the ra with shaddah. And the majority of people read: 'upon them is killing,' meaning: it is written upon them in Allah's decree and determination. And al-Hasan and al-Zuhri read: 'upon them is fighting.' And this reading can imply the need for the hypocrites, meaning: if you had stayed behind, the believers, the certain, the obedient would have emerged in the fighting that is written upon them.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿And that Allah may test what is in your breasts and may purify what is in your hearts﴾... The 'lam' in His saying, exalted is He: 'And that Allah may test' is related to a later action, the meaning of which is: and that He may test and purify these occurring matters. And the test here is the examination, and the purification is the cleansing of something from another. The meaning is: to test him so that he may learn knowledge equivalent to his existence, and it was already established before the existence of the test eternally. And 'what is in the breasts' refers to what is contained within them of beliefs; this is what is intended in this verse.