Tafseer of The Family of Imraan · Aal-i-Imraan · 3:128
Not for you, [O Muhammad, but for Allah], is the decision whether He should [cut them down] or forgive them or punish them, for indeed, they are wrongdoers.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of His word: لِيَقْطَعَ طَرَفًا مِنَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا أَوْ يَكْبِتَهُمْ فَيَنْقَلِبُوا خَائِبِينَ (127) ("That He might cut off a portion of those who disbelieved, or abase them, so that they would turn back disappointed.") (3:127)
Abū Jaʿfar said: By this He means, exalted is His praise: And Allah helped you at Badr "that He might cut off a portion of those who disbelieved." By "portion" (ṭaraf) He means: the group and the throng.
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He, exalted is His mention, says: And Allah helped you at Badr by destroying a group of those who disbelieved in Allah and His Messenger, who denied the oneness of their Lord and the prophethood of their Prophet Muḥammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. As:
7796 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: "That He might cut off a portion of those who disbelieved," Allah cut off a portion of the disbelievers on the day of Badr, and killed their commanders, their chiefs, and their leaders in evil.
7797 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār, on the authority of Ibn Abī Jaʿfar, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, the like of it.
7798 — Muḥammad ibn Sinān related to me, saying: Abū Bakr al-Ḥanafī related to us, on the authority of ʿAbbād, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His word: "That He might cut off a portion of those who disbelieved," the entire verse, he said: This is the day of Badr; Allah cut off a group of them and a group remained.
7799 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: "That He might cut off a portion of those who disbelieved," that is: that He might cut off a portion of the polytheists (mushrikīn) by killing, by which He would take vengeance upon them.
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And others said: The meaning of this is rather: And there is no victory except from Allah, that He might cut off a portion of those who disbelieved. They said: By this were meant only those who were killed at Uḥud.
* Mention of who said that:
7800 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, who said: Allah mentioned the slain among the polytheists — namely at Uḥud — and they were eighteen men, and He said: "That He might cut off a portion of those who disbelieved." Then He mentioned the martyrs and said: وَلا تَحْسَبَنَّ الَّذِينَ قُتِلُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ أَمْوَاتًا ("And do not think those who have been killed in the way of Allah to be dead"), the verse. [Sūrat Āl ʿImrān: 169]
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And as for His word "or abase them" (yakbitahum), by it He means: or dishonor them with disappointment regarding the victory over you which they had hoped for.
And it has been said: The meaning of His word "or abase them" is: or cast them down upon their faces. Some mentioned that he heard the Arabs say: "kabatahu Allāh li-wajhihi," with the meaning: Allah cast him down.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The explanation of the statement is: And Allah helped you at Badr that He might destroy a group of the disbelievers with the sword, or dishonor them with their disappointment regarding that which they craved, namely victory, "so that they would turn back disappointed," He says: so that they would turn back from you disappointed, having gained nothing from you of that which they hoped to attain from you. As:
7801 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: "Or abase them, so that they would turn back disappointed," or send them back disappointed, that is: that the scattered survivors among them would turn back disappointed, having gained nothing of that which they hoped for.
7802 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: "Or abase them," he says: dishonor them, "so that they would turn back disappointed."
7803 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār, on the authority of Ibn Abī Jaʿfar, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, the like of it.
--------------------- Footnotes: (56) The report 7799 — Sīrat Ibn Hishām 3: 114, and it is a continuation of the preceding report number 7994. The manuscript and the printed edition omitted "on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq," so I have established it, for it is an isnād recurring in the tafsīr, as you see. (57) That is Abū ʿUbayda in Majāz al-Qurʾān 1: 103. (58) In the manuscript and the printed edition it reads: "or that there returns whoever remains...," and the correct reading is according to Sīrat Ibn Hishām. The printed edition omitted his word "fallan" (scattered), because the scribe's pen became confused and mistakenly drew an incomplete stroke through his word "fallan," so that the editor thought it was a deletion mark. The correct course is to establish it as in Sīrat Ibn Hishām. "Al-fall" (with fatḥa on the fāʾ and doubled lām): the defeated; one says "jāʾa fallu al-qawm," that is: the defeated of the people; the singular and the plural are equal in this. (59) The report 7801 — Sīrat Ibn Hishām 3: 114, and it is a continuation of the reports the last of which is number 7799.
