His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "And whatever has afflicted you on the day the two armies met, it was by the permission of Allah, and so that He may make evident the believers. And so that He may make evident those who were hypocrites. And it was said to them, 'Come, fight in the cause of Allah or defend yourselves.' They said, 'If we knew there would be fighting, we would have followed you.' They were closer to disbelief on that day than to faith. They say with their mouths what is not in their hearts. And Allah knows best what they conceal."

The address with His saying, 'And what has afflicted you,' is for the believers. The two groups are the army of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and the army of Quraysh on the day of Uhud. The conjunction 'fa' in His saying, 'By permission of Allah,' serves as a strong connection. This is due to the ambiguity in 'what,' which makes the speech resemble a conditional statement. This is like what Sibawayh said: 'Whoever stands, for him are two dirhams.' Thus, the entry of 'fa' is appropriate if standing is the cause of giving. Likewise, the arrangement of this verse indicates that the meaning is: And whatever Allah has permitted, that is what has afflicted. However, He prioritized what was more important in their souls and closer to their senses. Permission means the enabling of something with knowledge of it. His saying, 'And so that He may know,' means: so that knowledge may exist alongside the presence of the believers and the hypocrites, that is, concurrent with the knowledge that has always been and will always be. The 'lam' in His saying, 'so that He may know,' is related to an implied action at the end of the speech. The reference in His saying, 'They have shown hypocrisy and it was said to them,' is to Abdullah ibn Ubayy and his companions who turned away with him from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, on the day of Uhud. This is because it was Abdullah ibn Ubayy's opinion not to go out to the disbelievers of Quraysh. When the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, went out with the people in the direction we have mentioned, Abdullah ibn Ubayy said: 'They obeyed him and disobeyed me,' and he withdrew with about a third of the people. Abdullah ibn Amr ibn Haram, the Ansari, the father of Jabir ibn Abdullah, followed them and said to them: 'Fear Allah and do not abandon your Prophet, and fight in the way of Allah or defend yourselves,' or something similar to this saying. Abdullah ibn Ubayy said to him: 'I do not see that there will be fighting. If we had known that there would be fighting, we would have been with you.' When Abdullah despaired of them, he said: 'Go, enemies of Allah, for Allah will suffice His Messenger against you,' and he went with the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and was martyred. The people differed in the meaning of his saying, 'or defend yourselves.' Al-Suddi, Ibn Jurayj, and others said: Its meaning is: increase your numbers even if you do not fight, so that the people will retreat due to your numbers. Abu Awn al-Ansari said: Its meaning is: remain steadfast. This is close to the first interpretation, and there is no doubt that the steadfast one is a defender, for if it were not for the position of the steadfast at the borders, the enemy would have attacked. The one who increases the numbers is also a defender. Anas ibn Malik said: 'I saw on the day of Qadisiyyah Abdullah ibn Umm Maktum, the blind man, wearing armor that dragged its edges and holding a black banner in his hand. It was said to him: 'Has not Allah revealed an excuse for you?' He said: 'Yes, but I increase the Muslims with my presence.' It has been narrated that he said: 'What about my presence in the way of Allah?' Some of the commentators went to say that Abdullah ibn Amr's saying, 'or defend yourselves,' is actually a call to fight out of zeal, for he called them to fight in the way of Allah, so that the word of Allah may be the highest. When he saw that they were not worthy of that, he presented to them the option that would preserve their dignity and inspire their pride, meaning: either fight to defend the territory. Do you not see that Quzman said: 'By Allah, I did not fight except for the honor of my people'? And do you not see that some of the Ansar said on the day of Uhud, when they saw Quraysh had sent their rear into the fields of Banu Qaylah: 'Will the fields of Banu Qaylah be grazed while we do not fight?' The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, had commanded that no one fight until he commanded them to fight. It seems that Abdullah ibn Amr ibn Haram called them to this Arab matter that is outside of religion and fighting in the way of Allah.

The majority of the commentators went to the view that His saying: "closer" is taken from closeness, which is the opposite of distance. The "lam" in His saying: "for disbelief" and "for faith" serves the same purpose as "to." Al-Naqqash reported that His saying: "closer" is taken from "qurb" - with the opening of the qaf and the ra - which means request. The one who is near is the seeker of water, and the night of "qurb" is the night of the offering. Thus, the term means "I seek," and the "lam" is firmly established according to this saying.

And His saying: "with their mouths" is an affirmation, similar to "flies with its wings."

And His saying: ﴿what is not in their hearts﴾ refers to what they show of the words that protect their blood. Then He exposed them with His saying: ﴿and Allah knows best what they conceal﴾ meaning: of disbelief and enmity towards the religion. And in the speech is a threat to them.