(And Allah had certainly fulfilled His promise to you). Al-Wahidi extracted from Muhammad bin Ka’b who said: When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) returned to Medina having suffered what they suffered on the day of Uhud, some of his companions said: "From where has this come upon us, when Allah the Exalted had promised us victory?" So Allah the Exalted revealed this verse. His "promise" is the second object of "fulfilled," as it is explicit that it [the verb sadaqa] takes two objects in such a construction. It also takes the second object with a preposition, as one says: "I confirmed (lit. spoke the truth to) Zayd in the narration." From this, some permitted that it [the word wa'd] is in the accusative case by the removal of the preposition. The intent of this promise is what He, the Glorified, promised them of victory by His saying, Mighty is His Name: "If you are patient and conscious of Allah..." etc., and upon the tongue of His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) when he said to the archers: "Do not leave your place, for we shall remain victorious as long as you remain in your place."
In another narration: "Do not move from this place, for we shall remain victorious as long as you remain in this place." The first [interpretation] is supported by what Al-Bayhaqi extracted in Al-Dala'il from Urwah, who said: Allah the Exalted had promised them that if they were patient and conscious [of Him], He would assist them with five thousand angels marked. He had indeed done so, but when they disobeyed the command of the Messenger, abandoned their ranks, the archers abandoned the Messenger's (peace and blessings be upon him) covenant to them not to leave their positions, and they desired worldly gain, Allah the Exalted lifted the assistance of the angels. Our master, the second Shaykh al-Islam, preferred [a view], and what benefits you here has already preceded.
The statement that the intended meaning is what He, Glorified is He, promised by His saying: "I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieved" is nothing [of substance], as is not hidden. Imam Ahmad and a group extracted from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that he said: "Allah the Exalted did not assist His Prophet in any theater as He assisted him on the day of Uhud." People denied this, so Ibn Abbas said: "Between me and those who deny this is the Book of Allah the Exalted. Allah the Exalted says regarding the day of Uhud: 'And Allah had certainly fulfilled His promise to you when you were killing them (tahussunahum).'" That is: you were killing them. This is the transmitted interpretation. The learned scholar [Ibn Abbas] cited as evidence for this the statement of Utbah al-Laythi: "We slaughter them (nahussuhum) with white [swords], until it is as if we were splitting from their skulls colocynths." And his saying: "And among us is he who met [the enemy] with the sword of Muhammad, and he slaughtered (hassa) the enemies with it, striking the breadth of the armies." The core meaning of hassa is to strike one's sense with a calamity, thereby nullifying it—like the liver—and thus it is used to express killing. From this is "the mahsus (affected/killed) locust," which is that which the cold killed; it is also said: it is that which fire touched. Hass is often used for killing by way of annihilation. The adverbial phrase relates to "fulfilled [the promise] to you." Abu al-Baqa' permitted that it be an adverb for "the promise."
"By His permission"—that is, by His facilitation and success. The restriction here is to confirm that their killing [of the enemy] was by the victory Allah the Exalted had promised them. "Until, when you failed (fashiltum)," meaning you panicked and became cowardly toward your enemy, "and disputed over the command"—that is, the affair of the war, or the command of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) to you to seal that breach, according to what has been previously explained—"and disobeyed" when you did not remain there and inclined toward the spoils, "after He had shown you what you love"—of the defeat of the polytheists and your victory over them.
Mujahid said: Allah the Exalted helped the believers against the polytheists until the women of the polytheists rode on every difficult and rugged terrain, then the polytheists were given [the upper hand] over them due to their disobedience to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). It is narrated that Khalid bin al-Walid approached with the cavalry of the polytheists, accompanied by Ikrimah bin Abi Jahl. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) sent to Al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with him) to charge at him, so he charged at him and defeated him and those with him. When the archers saw that, they turned back—except for a few—entered the camp, violated the order, and vacated the gap they were in. The horses of the polytheists entered through that position upon the companions (may Allah be pleased with them), so they struck one another and became intermixed, and many people were killed from the Muslims because of that.
"Among you are those who desire this world," and they are the archers who coveted the plunder and departed the center for it, "and among you are those who desire the Hereafter," like Abdullah bin Jubayr, the leader of the archers, and those who remained with him, complying with the command of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) until he was martyred. "Then He turned you away from them"—meaning He restrained you from them until the situation shifted from victory to its opposite—"to test you"—that is, to treat you with the treatment of one who examines [others] to clarify your affair and your steadfastness in faith. In the speech, there is a figurative metaphor (isti'arah tamthiliyyah); otherwise, examination is impossible for Allah the Exalted. Regarding "until" here, there are two views: One is that it is a preposition like "to," and its object relates to "killing them," or "fulfilled your promise," or is omitted, with the estimation being "that remained for you." The second is that it is an initial particle that enters upon the conditional sentence from "when" and what follows it. The answer to "when" is said to be "disputed," and the "wa" (and) is superfluous; Al-Farra' preferred this. It is said [the answer is] "turned you away," and "then" is superfluous, but this is very weak. The correct view is that it is omitted; the Basrans hold this. Abu al-Baqa' estimated it as: "He ordered you," and Abu Hayyan: "You were divided into two sections," based on the evidence of what follows it. Al-Zamakhshari: "He withheld His victory," and Ibn Atiyyah: "You were defeated." For each, there is a perspective. Some later scholars [said] "He tested you," but this was rejected by making the start [of the sentence] an end-goal for the turning away which resulted from the withholding of victory. In any case, "He turned you away" is a conjunction to that omitted [verb]. It is said that "when" is a noun, as in their saying: "When Zayd stands, then Amr stands," and "until" is a preposition meaning "to," relating to "fulfilled your promise" in view of its inclusion of the meaning of victory, as if it were said: "Allah the Exalted did help you until the time of your failure and dispute," and then "He turned you away" is a conjunction to that, and these two adverbial phrases are an interjection between the two conjoined parts.
"And He has already pardoned you"—by pure grace, or because He knew of your immense regret over the opposition. It is said: The intent of this pardon is forgiveness of the sin, and it is general for all those who turned away.
This is supported by what Al-Bukhari extracted from Uthman bin Mawhab, who said: A man came to Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) and said: "I am going to ask you about something, so tell me. I adjure you by the sanctity of this House, do you know that Uthman bin Affan fled on the day of Uhud?" He said: "Yes." He said: "Do you know that he was absent from Badr and did not witness it?" He said: "Yes." He said: "Do you know that he stayed behind from the Pledge of Ridwan and did not witness it?" He said: "Yes." So [the man] said "Allahu Akbar." Ibn Umar said: "Come, let me inform you and clarify for you what you asked me about. As for his fleeing on the day of Uhud, I testify that Allah the Exalted pardoned him. As for his absence from Badr, he had the daughter of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) as his wife, and she was ill, so the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: 'You shall have the reward of a man among those who witnessed Badr, and his share [of the spoils].'
As for his absence from the Pledge of Ridwan, if there were anyone in Mecca more honored than Uthman, he would have sent him in his place. So he sent Uthman, and the Pledge of Ridwan occurred after Uthman had gone to Mecca. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) struck his right hand, which he had, upon his [other] hand and said: 'This is the hand of Uthman,' and he went with it now with you." Al-Balkhi said: It is a pardon from annihilation. This is narrated from Ibn Jurayj. Abu Ali al-Jubba'i claimed that it is specific to those who did not disobey Allah by their turning away. Everything is contrary to the apparent meaning. It may be said: The motive for Al-Balkhi's statement is that the pardon of the sin will come in the most explicit way, and establishing [meaning] is better than emphasizing, and the speech of Ibn Umar (may Allah be pleased with them) contains nothing more than that Allah the Exalted pardoned the sin of those who fled, which is the explicit meaning of the coming verse. As for understanding from it, even by allusion, that the intent of the pardon here is the pardon of the sin, I do not think any fair-minded person would claim it.
(And Allah is Possessor of bounty to the believers). A concluding remark establishing the meaning of what preceded it, and it signals that that pardon—even if it were after repentance—is by way of grace, not obligation. That is, it is His nature to bestow grace upon them through pardon, or in all circumstances—whether He gave them the upper hand or gave [others] the upper hand over them—since testing is also a mercy. The nunation (tanwin) is for magnification. The intent by "believers" is either those being addressed—and the use of the noun in the place of the pronoun is for honor and to signal the cause of the ruling—or the generic [believers], and they [the companions] are the primary ones to enter into it. Perhaps generalization here and in what preceded it is better than specification, and specifying the bounty as "pardon" is better than specifying it as "not being annihilated," as some claimed.
