Tafsir of Al Imran 3:111

This is a connected exception (istithna’ muttasil), because "annoyance" (adha) denotes minor harm, as is evidenced by the contexts of its usage. It is as if it were said: "They will not harm you" in any way, except for minor harm. It has been said that it is a disconnected exception (munqati’), because annoyance is not [truly] harm, but this is debatable.

As Muqatil stated, the verse was revealed when the Jewish leaders—such as Ka’b, Abu Rafi’, Abu Yasir, Kinana, and Ibn Suriya—targeted those among them who had believed, such as ‘Abdullah ibn Salam and his companions, and harmed them for their acceptance of Islam. This harm was verbal, as is understood from the words of Qatadah and others, and it consisted of fabrication against Allah the Exalted, as al-Hasan said.

Meaning: they will be defeated without attaining anything against you. The turning of the backs is a well-known metaphor for defeat.

This is conjoined to the conditional sentence and its response. The particle "then" (thumma) is used here for sequential ordering and informative delay; meaning, no help shall come to them from anyone, and their ultimate consequence is incapacity and abandonment, whether they fight you or not. This contains the most perfect strengthening for the believers.

It has been recited as ( thumma la yunsaru — in the jussive). In this case, the sentence is conjoined to the response of the condition, and "then" signifies a delay in rank between the two reports, not in time, due to their simultaneity. Some have permitted the possibility that it signifies a delay in time under both recitations, based on considering the interval between the conjoined element and the final parts of the element to which it is conjoined. The recitation in the nominative (yunsaruna) is more eloquent, as it is free from the [conditional] restriction.

In this verse is clear evidence for the prophethood of our Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, as it is from the foretelling of the unseen which reality confirmed. For the Jews of Banu Qaynuqa’, Banu Qurayza, Banu Nadir, and the Jews of Khaybar fought the Muslims but did not stand firm, nor did they attain anything from them; no banner of theirs fluttered thereafter, their affairs did not settle, and they never again rose to power.