Tafseer of The Family of Imraan · Aal-i-Imraan · 3:152
And Allah had certainly fulfilled His promise to you when you were killing the enemy by His permission until [the time] when you lost courage and fell to disputing about the order [given by the Prophet] and disobeyed after He had shown you that which you love. Among you are some who desire this world, and among you are some who desire the Hereafter. Then he turned you back from them [defeated] that He might test you. And He has already forgiven you, and Allah is the possessor of bounty for the believers.
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.
Explanation of the saying of Allah: "And Allah had certainly fulfilled His promise to you" وَلَقَدْ صَدَقَكُمُ اللَّهُ وَعْدَهُ
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted be His remembrance — means by His word "And Allah had certainly fulfilled to you": O believers among the Companions (ṣaḥāba) of Muḥammad ﷺ at Uhud, His promise which He had promised you through the mouth of His Messenger Muḥammad ﷺ.
And "the promise" which He had promised them through his mouth at Uhud is his word to the archers: "Remain standing in your place and do not budge, and even if you see that we have defeated them, we still remain victorious as long as you hold fast to your place." And the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had promised them victory that day, provided they held to his command, as in the following:
8004 - Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, who said: When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ appeared at Uhud facing the polytheists (mushrikīn), he gave command to the archers, and they took up position at the foot of the mountain facing the cavalry of the polytheists, and he said: "Do not budge from your place, even if you see that we have defeated them, for we remain victorious as long as you hold fast to your place." And he appointed over them ʿAbdallāh ibn Jubayr, the brother of Khawwāt ibn Jubayr. Then Ṭalḥa ibn ʿUthmān, the bearer of the banner of the polytheists, stood up and said: "O company of the Companions of Muḥammad, you claim that Allah sends us in haste to the Fire by your swords, and sends you in haste to the Garden (janna) by our swords! Is there then anyone among you whom Allah will send in haste to the Garden by my sword, or who will send me in haste to the Fire by his sword?" Then ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib stood up against him and said: "By Him in Whose hand is my soul, I will not budge from you until Allah sends you in haste to the Fire by my sword, or sends me in haste to the Garden by your sword!" And ʿAlī struck him and cut off his leg, whereupon he fell and his private parts became exposed. Then he said: "I adjure you by Allah and by kinship, cousin!" Thereupon he left him alone. And the Messenger of Allah ﷺ proclaimed the takbīr, and the companions of ʿAlī said to him: "What prevented you from finishing him off?" He said: "My cousin adjured me when his private parts became exposed, and I was ashamed before him."
= Then al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām and al-Miqdād ibn al-Aswad attacked the polytheists and defeated them, and the Prophet ﷺ and his companions advanced and defeated Abū Sufyān. When Khālid ibn al-Walīd, who was over the cavalry of the polytheists, saw that, he attacked, but the archers assailed him with arrows so that he recoiled. When the archers saw the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his companions in the midst of the camp of the polytheists, while they were plundering it, they hastened to the spoils (ghanīma). Some of them, however, said: "We will not abandon the command of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ!" But the majority of them left and joined the camp. When Khālid saw the small number of archers, he shouted to his cavalry, then attacked and killed the archers, and afterwards attacked the companions of the Prophet ﷺ. When the polytheists saw that their cavalry was fighting, they called out to one another and attacked the Muslims, defeated them, and killed them.
8005 - Hārūn ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Muṣʿab ibn al-Miqdām related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, saying: Abū Isḥāq related to us, on the authority of al-Barāʾ, who said: When it was the day of Uhud and we met the polytheists, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ stationed men facing the archers and appointed over them ʿAbdallāh ibn Jubayr, the brother of Khawwāt ibn Jubayr, and he said to them: "Do not budge from your place; if you see that we gain the upper hand over them, do not budge, and if you see that they gain the upper hand over us, do not come to our aid." When the combatant parties met one another, the polytheists were defeated, so that I saw the women lifting their garments from their legs and their anklets becoming visible. Then they began to cry out: "The spoils, the spoils!" ʿAbdallāh said: "Halt! Do you no longer remember what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ commanded you?" But they refused and left, and when they reached them, Allah turned their faces around, and seventy of the Muslims were killed.
8006 - Sufyān ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: My father related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Barāʾ, in similar manner.
8007 - Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: My father related to me, saying: My uncle related to me, saying: My father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his word: "And Allah had certainly fulfilled His promise to you when you were slaying them by His permission": Abū Sufyān advanced when three nights of Shawwāl had passed, until he encamped at Uhud. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ set out and summoned the people, and they gathered. He appointed al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwwām over the cavalry, and with him that day was al-Miqdād ibn al-Aswad al-Kindī. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ gave the banner to a man of the Quraysh named Muṣʿab ibn ʿUmayr. And Ḥamza ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib set out with the foot-soldiers without armour (al-ḥussar), and stationed Ḥamza before himself. Khālid ibn al-Walīd advanced with the cavalry of the polytheists, and with him was ʿIkrima ibn Abī Jahl. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent al-Zubayr and said: "Take up position facing Khālid ibn al-Walīd and remain facing him until I give you permission." And he gave command to another body of cavalry, and they stood on another side, and he said: "Do not budge until I give you permission." Abū Sufyān advanced while carrying the idols al-Lāt and al-ʿUzzā, and the Prophet ﷺ sent word to al-Zubayr that he should attack. He attacked Khālid ibn al-Walīd and defeated him and those who were with him, as He said: "And Allah had certainly fulfilled His promise to you when you were slaying them by His permission, until you lost courage and disputed with one another over the matter and disobeyed after He had shown you what you love." And Allah had promised the believers that He would help them and that He was with them.
8008 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, saying: Muḥammad ibn Muslim ibn ʿUbaydallāh al-Zuhrī related to me, and Muḥammad ibn Yaḥyā ibn Ḥabbān, and ʿĀṣim ibn ʿUmar ibn Qatāda, and al-Ḥuṣayn ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAmr ibn Saʿd ibn Muʿādh, and others among our scholars — in a narrative which he related about Uhud — mentioned that they all transmitted a portion of it, and that their narration came together in what he strung together from the report. And among what was mentioned therein was: that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ alighted in the mountain pass of Uhud at the slope of the valley toward the mountain, and he placed his back and his camp toward Uhud, and said: "Let no one fight until we give him the command to fight." And the Quraysh had let loose their pack-animals and mounts in fields belonging to the Muslims at al-Ṣamgha of Qanāt. Then a man of the Anṣār, when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade fighting, said: "Are the fields of the Banū Qayla being grazed bare while we have not yet fought?" The Messenger of Allah ﷺ made himself ready for battle, and he had seven hundred men, and the Quraysh made themselves ready while they were three thousand, and with them were two hundred horses which they led at their side. They appointed over the right wing of the cavalry Khālid ibn al-Walīd, and over the left wing ʿIkrima ibn Abī Jahl. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ appointed over the archers ʿAbdallāh ibn Jubayr, a brother of the Banū ʿAmr ibn ʿAwf, who that day was recognizable by white clothing, and the archers were fifty men, and he said: "Drive the cavalry away from us with arrows, so that they do not fall upon us from behind! Whether it be for us or against us, remain standing in your place, so that we are not fallen upon from your side." When the people met one another and the one approached the other and they fought, until the war grew hot, Abū Dujāna fought until he penetrated deep into the ranks, as did Ḥamza ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib and ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, amidst men of the Muslims. Then Allah, mighty and exalted, sent down His help and fulfilled His promise to them, and they struck them with the swords until they drove them off, and the defeat was beyond doubt.
8009 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbbād ibn ʿAbdallāh ibn al-Zubayr, on the authority of his father, on the authority of his grandfather, who said: al-Zubayr said: By Allah, I saw myself looking at the anklets of Hind, the daughter of ʿUtba, and her companions, while they lifted their garments and fled — nothing, small or great, held them back — when the archers betook themselves to the camp after we had driven the enemy away from it, in their greed for the plunder, and they left our backs unprotected against the cavalry. Thus we were fallen upon from behind. And a crier called out: "Verily, Muḥammad has been killed!" Then we turned around, and the enemy turned against us, after we had killed the bearers of the banner, so that none of the enemy approached it any longer.
8010 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, concerning his word: "And Allah had certainly fulfilled His promise to you", that is to say: I fulfilled to you what I had promised you of victory over your enemy.
8011 - It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār, he said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning his word: "And Allah had certainly fulfilled His promise to you" — and that was on the day of Uhud — He said to them: "You shall surely gain the upper hand, and let me not learn that you have taken anything of their spoils until you are finished!" But they abandoned the command of the Prophet of Allah ﷺ, and were disobedient, and threw themselves upon the spoils, and forgot his charge which he had charged them with, and acted contrary to what he had commanded them.
* * *
Explanation of the saying of Allah: "When you were slaying them by His permission" إِذْ تَحُسُّونَهُمْ بِإِذْنِهِ
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted be His remembrance — means thereby: and Allah had certainly fulfilled to you, O believers among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, what He had promised you of victory over your enemy at Uhud, when you "slew them", that is to say: when you killed them.
* * *
One says of that: "ḥassahu yaḥussuhu ḥassan", when he kills him, as in:
8012 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdallāh ibn Saʿīd al-Wāsiṭī related to me, saying: Yaʿqūb ibn ʿĪsā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿImrān ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf related to me, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Miswar ibn Makhrama, on the authority of his father, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf, concerning his word: "When you were slaying them by His permission", he said: al-ḥass means: the killing.
8013 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Abī al-Zinād informed us, on the authority of his father, who said: I heard ʿUbaydallāh ibn ʿAbdallāh saying about the word of Allah, mighty and exalted: "When you were slaying them", he said: the killing.
8014 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "When you were slaying them by His permission", he said: you killed them.
* * *
8015 - Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his word: "And Allah had certainly fulfilled His promise to you when you were slaying them", that is to say: by killing with His permission.
8016 - al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his word: "When you were slaying them", he says: when you killed them.
8017 - 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: "When you were slaying them by His permission", and al-ḥass is the killing.
8018 - 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: "And Allah had certainly fulfilled His promise to you when you were slaying them by His permission", he says: you killed them.
8019 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: "When you were slaying them" with the swords, that is to say: the killing.
8020 - al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Mubārak, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: "When you were slaying them by His permission", that is to say: the killing.
8021 - ʿAlī ibn Dāwūd related to me, saying: ʿAbdallāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his word: "When you were slaying them by His permission", he says: you killed them.
* * *
As for His word "by His permission", He means thereby: by My decision and My decree concerning that for you, and My granting you power over them, as in:
8022 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: When you were slaying them by My permission, and My granting your hands power over them, and My withholding their hands from you.
* * *
Explanation of the saying of Allah: "Until you lost courage and disputed with one another over the matter and disobeyed after He had shown you what you love" حَتَّى إِذَا فَشِلْتُمْ وَتَنَازَعْتُمْ فِي الأَمْرِ وَعَصَيْتُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا أَرَاكُمْ مَا تُحِبُّونَ
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted be His praise — means by His word "until you lost courage": until you became cowardly and weak, = "and disputed with one another over the matter", He says: and you differed over the matter of Allah, He says: and you became disobedient and opposed your Prophet, so that you abandoned his command and what he had charged you with. And He means thereby specifically the archers whom he ﷺ had commanded to remain at their station and their post at the mouth of the mountain pass of Uhud, facing Khālid ibn al-Walīd and the horsemen of the polytheists who were with him, about whose affair we have spoken earlier.
= As for His word "after He had shown you what you love", He means thereby: after Allah had shown you, O believers in Muḥammad, the victory and the triumph over the polytheists, and that is the defeat which they had inflicted upon them — driving them away from their women and their possessions — before the archers abandoned their posts in which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had placed them, and before the cavalry of the polytheists broke out upon the believers from behind.
* * *
And in agreement with what we have said, the reports of the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) bear witness.
And the mention of some who spoke has already passed, and we shall mention the word of some whose word has not been mentioned before.
*Mention of who said that:
8023 - Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "Until you lost courage and disputed with one another over the matter", that is to say: you differed over the matter = "and disobeyed after He had shown you what you love", and that was on the day of Uhud: the Prophet of Allah ﷺ charged them with something and gave them a command, but they forgot the charge and deviated and acted contrary to what the Prophet of Allah ﷺ had commanded them, whereupon He cast their enemy upon them, after He had shown them of their enemy what they loved.
8024 - Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: My father related to me, saying: My uncle related to me, saying: My father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent out some people — that is, on the day of Uhud — and they were behind them, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Be here, and turn back the face of whoever among us flees, and be a guard for us at our rear." And when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his companions had defeated the enemy, those who had been stationed behind them said to one another — when they saw the women climbing up the mountain and saw the spoils —: "Set out to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and seize the spoils before others get ahead of you to them!" But another group said: "No, we obey the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and remain in our place!" That is His word: "Among you are those who desire the world", concerning those who desired the spoils, = "and among you are those who desire the hereafter", concerning those who said: "We obey the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and remain in our place." And they came to Muḥammad ﷺ, and it was a losing of courage when they disputed among themselves; He says: "And you became disobedient after He had shown you what you love", for they had already beheld the victory and the spoils.
8025 - 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: "Until you lost courage", he says: you became cowardly before your enemy = "and disputed with one another over the matter", he says: you differed = "and disobeyed after He had shown you what you love", and that was on the day of Uhud: He said to them: "You shall surely gain the upper hand, and let me not learn that you have taken anything of their spoils until you are finished." But they abandoned the command of the Prophet of Allah ﷺ, and were disobedient, and threw themselves upon the spoils, and forgot his charge which he had charged them with, and acted contrary to what he had commanded them, whereupon their enemy was cast upon them, after He had shown them in them what they loved.
8026 - al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj: "Until you lost courage", Ibn Jurayj said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: al-fashal is cowardice.
8027 - Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "Until you lost courage and disputed with one another over the matter and disobeyed after He had shown you what you love", namely of the victory.
8028 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: "Until you lost courage", that is to say: you failed one another = "and disputed with one another over the matter", that is to say: you differed over my affair = "and disobeyed", that is to say: you abandoned the command of your Prophet ﷺ and what he had charged you with — He means the archers = "after He had shown you what you love", that is to say: the victory which was beyond doubt, and the defeat of the enemy, driven away from their women and their possessions.
8029 - al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of al-Mubārak, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: "After He had shown you what you love", that is to say: of the victory.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: And it is said that the meaning of His word "until you lost courage and disputed with one another over the matter and disobeyed after He had shown you what you love" = until you disputed over the matter, you lost courage and became disobedient after He had shown you what you love = and that it belongs to that which is placed forward whose meaning is the placing backward, and that the "wāw" has entered into it while its meaning is its omission, as one says: فَلَمَّا أَسْلَمَا وَتَلَّهُ لِلْجَبِينِ * وَنَادَيْنَاهُ ("And when they both had submitted and he had laid him down upon his forehead * We called out to him") [Sūrat al-Ṣāffāt: 103-104], whose meaning is: We called out to him. And this is said with "ḥattā idhā" (until when) and with "fa-lammā an" (and when). [It does not occur except in these two.] And to that belongs the word of Allah, mighty and exalted: حَتَّى إِذَا فُتِحَتْ يَأْجُوجُ وَمَأْجُوجُ ("Until Yaʾjūj and Maʾjūj are opened"), after which He says: وَاقْتَرَبَ الْوَعْدُ الْحَقُّ ("And the true promise draws near") [Sūrat al-Anbiyāʾ: 96-97], whose meaning is: draws near, as the poet said:
"Until your bellies became full of lice and you saw that your sons were growing up, and you turned the back of the shield against us — verily, the base man is the powerless deceiver."
* * *
Explanation of the saying of Allah: "Among you are those who desire the world, and among you are those who desire the hereafter" مِنْكُمْ مَنْ يُرِيدُ الدُّنْيَا وَمِنْكُمْ مَنْ يُرِيدُ الآخِرَةَ
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted be His praise — means by His word "among you are those who desire the world": those who abandoned their post in which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had placed them in the mountain pass of Uhud, against the cavalry of the polytheists, and joined the camp of the Muslims in their craving for plunder when they saw the defeat of the polytheists = "and among you are those who desire the hereafter", He means thereby: those among the archers who held fast to their posts in which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had placed them, and followed his command, out of vigilance over the charge of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and in their striving for what is with Allah of reward for that deed of theirs, and the hereafter. As in:
8030 - Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "Among you are those who desire the world, and among you are those who desire the hereafter": those who left in their craving for the spoils, they are the people of the world, and those who stayed and said: "We do not act contrary to the word of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ", desired the hereafter.
8031 - Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: My father related to me, saying: My uncle related to me, saying: My father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, the like of that.
8032 - It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh saying: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk saying about his word: "Among you are those who desire the world, and among you are those who desire the hereafter": The Prophet of Allah ﷺ on the day of Uhud gave command to a group of the Muslims and said: "Be a frontier-guard for the people", at a post which he charged them to occupy, and he commanded them not to leave their place until he should permit them. When the Prophet of Allah ﷺ on the day of Uhud met Abū Sufyān and the polytheists who were with him, the Prophet of Allah ﷺ defeated them! When the frontier-guard saw that Allah, mighty and exalted, had defeated the polytheists, a portion of them left while they called out to one another: "The spoils! The spoils! Let them not escape you!" But a portion of them remained in their place and said: "We will not leave our place until the Prophet of Allah ﷺ permits us!" And concerning that was revealed: "Among you are those who desire the world, and among you are those who desire the hereafter." Ibn Masʿūd used to say: I did not know that anyone of the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ desired the world and its perishable goods, until it was the day of Uhud.
8033 - al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, saying: Ibn Jurayj said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: When Allah defeated the polytheists on the day of Uhud, the archers said: "Reach the people and the Prophet of Allah ﷺ, lest they get ahead of you to the spoils, so that they be for them instead of for you!" But some of them said: "We will not leave our place until the Prophet ﷺ permits us." And then was revealed: "Among you are those who desire the world, and among you are those who desire the hereafter." Ibn Jurayj said: Ibn Masʿūd said: We did not know that anyone of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ desired the world and its perishable goods, until it was that day.
8034 - al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of al-Mubārak, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: "Among you are those who desire the world": these are those who draw the spoils toward themselves = "and among you are those who desire the hereafter": those who pursue them and kill them.
8035 - al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAmr ibn Muḥammad al-ʿAnqazī related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of ʿAbd Khayr, who said: ʿAbdallāh said: I used not to see anyone of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ who desired the world, until there was revealed concerning us on the day of Uhud: "Among you are those who desire the world, and among you are those who desire the hereafter."
8036 - Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of ʿAbd Khayr, who said: Ibn Masʿūd said: I did not think that there was among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ that day anyone who desired the world, until Allah said what He said.
8037 - 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, who said: ʿAbdallāh ibn Masʿūd said, when he saw them throwing themselves upon the spoils: I did not think that anyone of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ desired the world, until it was today.
8038 - Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: My father related to me, saying: My uncle related to me, saying: My father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: Ibn Masʿūd used to say: I did not know that anyone of the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ desired the world and its perishable goods, until it was that day.
8039 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: "Among you are those who desire the world", that is to say: those who desired the plunder out of longing for the world, and the neglecting of the obedience which had been charged to them and to which the reward of the hereafter is attached = "and among you are those who desire the hereafter", that is to say: those who exerted themselves on the way of Allah, and did not deviate to what was forbidden to them for the sake of a perishable worldly good out of craving for it, in hope of what is with Allah of good reward in the hereafter.
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Explanation of the saying of Allah: "Then He turned you away from them in order to test you" ثُمَّ صَرَفَكُمْ عَنْهُمْ لِيَبْتَلِيَكُمْ
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted be His praise — means thereby: then He turned you away, O believers, from the polytheists after He had shown you what you love in them and in yourselves, namely your defeat inflicted upon them and your victory over them, and He turned your faces away from them because of your disobedience to the command of My Messenger, and your opposition to his obedience, and your preferring the world over the hereafter — as a punishment for you because of what you did — "in order to test you", He says: in order to try you, so that the hypocrite among you may be distinguished from the sincerely-devoted, truthful one in his faith among you. As in:
8040 - Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: Then He mentioned the moment in which Khālid ibn al-Walīd fell upon them: "Then He turned you away from them in order to test you."
8041 - al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Mubārak, on the authority of al-Ḥasan concerning his word: "Then He turned you away from them", he said: He turned the people away from them, and there were killed of the Muslims a number equal to that of the captives whom they had taken on the day of Badr, and the uncle of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was killed, and his front tooth was broken, and his face was wounded, and he wiped the blood from his face and said: "How should a people succeed who do this to their Prophet, while he calls them to their Lord?" Then was revealed: لَيْسَ لَكَ مِنَ الأَمْرِ شَيْءٌ ("Not for you is the matter at all") [Sūrat Āl ʿImrān: 128], the verse. Then they said: "Had the Messenger of Allah ﷺ not promised us victory?" Thereupon Allah, mighty and exalted, revealed: وَلَقَدْ صَدَقَكُمُ اللَّهُ وَعْدَهُ ("And Allah had certainly fulfilled His promise to you") up to His word: "Then He turned you away from them in order to test you, and He has certainly pardoned you."
8042 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: "Then He turned you away from them in order to test you", that is to say: He turned you away from them in order to try you, and that was because of a part of your sins.
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Explanation of the saying of Allah: "And He has certainly pardoned you, and Allah is full of grace toward the believers" (152) وَلَقَدْ عَفَا عَنْكُمْ وَاللَّهُ ذُو فَضْلٍ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted be His praise — means by His word "and He has certainly pardoned you": and Allah has certainly = O you who opposed the command of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and neglected his obedience in what he had set before you concerning holding fast to the place which he had commanded you to occupy = pardoned you, and He has remitted for you the punishment of your sin which you had committed, regarding something greater than that with which He punished you of defeat by your enemies and the turning away of your faces from them, in that He did not utterly destroy your company, as in:
8043 - al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Mubārak, on the authority of al-Ḥasan concerning his word: "And He has certainly pardoned you", he said: al-Ḥasan said, while clapping his hands together: And how has He pardoned them, while seventy of them were killed, and the uncle of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was killed, and his front tooth was broken, and his face was wounded? He said: Then he says: Allah, mighty and exalted, said: "I pardoned you when you were disobedient to Me, in that I did not utterly destroy you." He said: Then al-Ḥasan says: These were with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and on the way of Allah, angered for the sake of Allah, fighting against the enemies of Allah; something was forbidden to them and they did it anyway, and by Allah, they were not left alone until they were overcome by this trial. And the most corrupt of the corrupt (afsaq al-fāsiqīn) today commits every great sin and plunges into every calamity and drags his garments behind him, and claims that there is no harm in it for him! But he shall know.
8044 - al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, concerning his word: "And He has certainly pardoned you", he said: He did not utterly destroy you.
8045 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: "And He has certainly pardoned you", and Allah has certainly pardoned the great part of it, He did not destroy you for what you committed of disobedience to your Prophet, but I returned to you with My mercy.
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As for His word "and Allah is full of grace toward the believers", He means thereby: and Allah is full of beneficence toward the people who believe in Him and in His Messenger, by pardoning them much of that for which they deserve the punishment over it for their sins; and if He punishes them for a part of it, then He is graciously favorable toward them through His fair benefactions toward them. As in:
8046 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: "And He has certainly pardoned you, and Allah is full of grace toward the believers", he says: And thus Allah favored the believers, in that He punished them for a part of the sins in the near things of the world, as discipline and admonition, for He does not utterly destroy all that they owe Him of right over them for what they committed of disobedience to Him — out of mercy toward them and as a favor over them, because of the faith that is in them.
