Tafsir of Al-Anbiya' 21:80

{ And We taught him the craft of labus (armor) } meaning the making of mail coats. Its root refers to everything that is worn. Ibn al-Sikkit recited: Assume every situation in its dress (labus), whether it be its comfort or its misery. It is said: It is a name for all weapons, whether they are shields or otherwise, and al-Tabarsi preferred this, citing the Hudhalite poet describing a spear: And I possess a weapon (labus) for the wretched, as if it were a horn on the forehead of a wild cow, carried. Qatadah said: Shields were previously plates. The first to link them and make them into rings was David, peace be upon him, so they combined lightness and protection. It is narrated that two angels descended from the sky and passed by him, peace be upon him. One said to the other: "David is an excellent man, were it not that he eats from the public treasury." So he asked Allah, the Exalted, to provide for him from his own earnings. Thus, iron was softened for him, and he fashioned armor from it. It has been read as lubus with a damma on the lam.

{ For you } is connected to an omitted element that serves as an adjective for labus. Abu al-Baqa’ permitted its connection to "We taught" or to "craft."

His saying, { To protect you } is connected to "We taught," or it is a badal ishtimal (substitution of inclusion) for "for you" by repeating the preposition, clarifying the mode of specialization and the benefit derived from the lam in "for you." The hidden pronoun refers to labus, and the feminine form is used based on the interpretation of "coat of mail," which is feminine by convention, or it refers to the "craft."

A group read it as li-yahsanakum with a ya, where the pronoun refers to labus, or to David, peace be upon him. It is said it may refer to the teaching. It is also permitted that it refers to Allah, the Exalted, by way of iltifat (shift in perspective), and this is supported by the reading of Abu Bakr from ‘Asim: linuhsinakum (with a nun). All these readings feature the sukun of the ha' and the takhfif (lightening). Al-Fuqaymi from Abu ‘Amr, and Ibn Abi Hammad from Abu Bakr, read it with a ya, the fatha of the ha', and the shadda on the sad. Ibn Wathab and al-A‘mash read it with a ta’ and the shadda.

{ From your ba’s (might/war) } It is said: i.e., from the war of your enemies, and the intended meaning is what occurs therein. It is also said that the discourse implies a missing word, i.e., from the instruments of your war, such as the sword.

{ So will you be grateful? } This is a command in the form of a question, because it contains a reprimand by implying a shortcoming in gratitude, and an exaggeration by indicating that gratitude is due to occur without a command. Thus, he asks whether that matter—which is necessary to occur—has occurred or not.