And certainly Allah has fulfilled His promise to you. Allah promised them victory on the condition of patience and piety in His saying: (If you are patient and fear Allah, and they come upon you from their flank, He will reinforce you). It may be that the promise refers to His saying: (We will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve). When they failed and disputed, they were not terrified. It is said that when they returned to the city, some of the believers said: 'From where did this come upon us, while Allah promised us victory?' So this was revealed. This is because the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, placed one of them behind him, faced the city, and stationed the archers at the mountain. He commanded them to remain in their place and not to leave—whether the state was for the Muslims or against them. When the polytheists approached, the archers began to shoot at their horses, while the others struck them with swords until they were defeated, and the Muslims followed them, killing them severely.

Until when they failed. Failure is cowardice and weakness of opinion. And they disputed, so some of them said: 'The polytheists have been defeated, so what is our position here?' And some said: 'We will not disobey the command of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him.' Among those who remained in their place was Abdullah ibn Jubair, the leader of the archers, with a few less than ten, and they are the ones referred to in His saying: (And among you are those who desire the Hereafter). A group behind them were plundering, and they were those who desired this world. The polytheists charged at the archers, killed Abdullah ibn Jubair, may Allah be pleased with him, and turned to the Muslims. The wind turned against them, and it was a headwind, until they defeated them and killed those they killed. This is His saying: Then He turned you away from them to test you, to examine your patience in the face of calamities and your steadfastness in faith at that time. And certainly, He forgave you when He knew of your regret for what you had neglected of disobeying the command of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him. And Allah is the Possessor of grace upon the believers; He bestows upon them forgiveness, or He is gracious to them in all circumstances, whether they are aided or defeated, because trial is mercy just as victory is mercy. If you ask: Where is the connection of (until when)? I say: It is omitted, its meaning being: until when you failed, His victory was withheld from you. And it may mean: Allah fulfilled His promise to you until the time of your failure.

It is established by your turning away, or by His saying: "to test you," or by implying "remember" and the ascent. The going in the land and the distancing in it. It is said: he ascended in the mountain and he ascended in the land. It is said: we ascended from Mecca to Medina. And Al-Hasan, may Allah be pleased with him, read: "you ascend," meaning in the mountain. The first reading is supported by the reading of Ubayy: "when you ascend in the valley." And Abu Haywah read: "you ascend," with the opening of the 'ta' and the emphasis on the 'ain,' from ascending on the ladder. And Al-Hasan, may Allah be pleased with him, read: "you recite," with one 'waw,' and we have mentioned its reason. And it was read: "they ascend." And "they twist" with the 'ya.' And "the Messenger calls you" was saying: "to Me, O servants of Allah, to Me, O servants of Allah, I am the Messenger of Allah, whoever rushes will have Paradise." "In your last ones" refers to your rear and your other group, which is the delayed one. It is said: I came in the last of the people and their last ones, just as you say: in their first ones and their foremost ones, meaning their advance and their first group. "So He rewarded you" is an attachment to your turning away, meaning: so Allah rewarded you with grief when He turned you away from them and tested you with the cause of the grief you inflicted upon the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, by your disobedience to him, or a compounded grief, grief after grief, and grief connected with grief, from the sorrow over what was rumored about the killing of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and the injury and killing, and the victory of the polytheists and the loss of the spoils and the victory. "So that you do not grieve" to train you to endure sorrows, and to benefit you by bearing hardships, so that you do not grieve afterward over what you missed of benefits nor over what afflicted you of harms. And it is possible that the pronoun in: "So He rewarded you" refers to the Messenger, meaning: so He made you grieve. Just as you were grieved by what befell him of the breaking of the tooth and the wound and others, he was grieved by what befell you. So He rewarded you with a grief he grieved for you because of the grief you experienced for him, and He did not blame you for your disobedience and your opposition to his command. Rather, He did that to console you and relieve you so that you do not grieve over what you missed of the victory of Allah, nor over what afflicted you from the overpowering of the enemy. And Allah sent down tranquility upon the believers and removed from them the fear that was upon them until they dozed off and sleep overcame them. And from Abu Talhah, may Allah be pleased with him: "Sleep overcame us while we were in our ranks, so the sword would fall from one of us's hand and he would take it, then it would fall again and he would take it." And there was no one except that he would lean under his shield.

And from Ibn Al-Zubair, may Allah be pleased with him: "I saw myself with the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, when fear intensified upon us, so Allah sent down sleep upon us. By Allah, I heard the words of Al-Mu'tab bin Qushayr while sleep was overcoming me: 'If we had any say in the matter, we would not be killed here.' And the security: the safety. And it was read (Amanah) with the 'm' being silent, as if it is the instance of safety. "Sleep" is a substitute for security. And it is possible that it is the object, and security is a state of it, preceding it, as you say: I saw a rider a man, or an object for it meaning: you slept in safety. And it is possible that it is a state of the addressees, meaning: those of security, or that it is the plural of secure, noble and virtuous. "They cover" was read with 'ya' and 'ta' in response to sleep, or to the security. "A group of you" are the people of truth and certainty, and "a group" are the hypocrites. "Their souls troubled them" means: they were concerned only about themselves, not about the religion or the Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him, and the Muslims, or they have caused themselves and what has befallen them in worries and sorrows, so they are in complaining and lamenting. "Not the truth" in the ruling of the source. Its meaning: they think of Allah other than the true thought that should be thought of Him.

And they think of Allah the thought of ignorance. And it is permissible that the meaning is: they think of Allah the thought of ignorance. And not the truth: a confirmation for 'they think', like your saying: this saying is not what you say, and this saying is not your saying. And the thought of ignorance is like your saying: Hatim of generosity, and a man of truth: he means the thought specific to the religion of ignorance. And it is permissible that the thought of the people of ignorance is intended, meaning that no one thinks such a thought except the polytheists who are ignorant of Allah. They say to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, asking him: 'Do we have any share in the matter?' Its meaning is: do we, the Muslims, have any share in the matter of Allah at all, meaning victory and triumph over the enemy? Say: 'Indeed, the matter is entirely for Allah and His believing allies, and it is victory and dominance (Allah has decreed: 'I will surely overcome, I and My messengers'). Indeed, Our soldiers will be the victorious ones.

They conceal within themselves what they do not reveal to you. Its meaning is: they say to you in what they show: 'Do we have any share in this matter?' This is a question from the believers seeking guidance, while they harbor hypocrisy. They say to themselves or to one another, denying your words to them that the matter is all for Allah. If we had any share in the matter, meaning if the matter were as Muhammad said, that the matter is all for Allah and His allies, and that they are the victorious, we would never have been defeated, and no Muslims would have been killed in this battle. Say: 'If you had been in your homes,' meaning what Allah knows of those who will be killed and fall in these places, and He has written that in the Preserved Tablet, it was inevitable for it to occur. So if you had stayed in your homes, those whom Allah knew would be killed would have emerged from among you to their places of death, which are their battlegrounds, so that what Allah knew would happen would happen. The meaning is that Allah has written in the Tablet the killing of those who will be killed among the believers, and He has also written that they will be victorious, for He knows that the outcome will be victory for them, and that the religion of Islam will prevail over all religions. What they suffer at certain times is a means of purification for them and an encouragement for martyrdom, and their eagerness for martyrdom spurs them on to jihad, resulting in victory. It is said: its meaning is, do we have any control over the matter? They mean why did we not have any control over the situation when we left the city for Uhud, and we should have remained and not departed as Abdullah ibn Ubayy and others suggested. If we had any control over the matter, we would not have been killed in this battle. Say: 'Indeed, all control belongs to Allah.' He means that Allah, the Exalted, has arranged the matter as it has unfolded. If you had remained in the city and not left your homes, none of you who were killed would have escaped death. And it has been recited: 'Fighting has been prescribed upon them.' And 'killing has been prescribed upon them,' in the active voice. And 'to emerge,' with emphasis and the letter 'b' being pronounced with a dammah. 'And Allah will test what is in the hearts of the believers for sincerity, and He will purify what is in their hearts from the whispers of Satan.' He did this for many benefits and for testing and purification. If you ask: how are the sentences that follow the phrase 'and a group'? I say: 'They were preoccupied' is an adjective for 'a group.' And 'they think' is another adjective or a state meaning: their souls have preoccupied them, thinking. Or it is a new statement clarifying the previous sentence. And 'they say' is a substitution for 'they think.' If you ask: how is it correct that what is a question about the matter is a substitute for the news of the thought? [Mahamud said: 'If you ask how it is correct that what is a question about the matter... etc.?' Ahmad said: this observation is noted in Allah's words about the angels: 'Will You place therein one who causes corruption therein and sheds blood...' The verse shows that this question is an inquiry, and an inquiry does not possess the attributes of news regarding truthfulness and its opposite. Nevertheless, Allah's statement in addressing them: 'Inform Me of the names of these if you are truthful,' means in your statement, 'Will You place therein one who causes corruption therein?' Thus, their inquiry is treated like news because it implies the news that this human type is not infallible from corruption and shedding blood, except for those whom Allah has protected among them, and Allah knows best.] I say: their question arose from suspicion, so it was permissible to substitute it. And 'they conceal' is the state of those who say. And 'Say: indeed, the matter is all for Allah' is an interruption between the state and those in the state. And 'they say' is a substitution for 'they conceal,' and it is better that it be a new statement.