Tafsir of Al Imran 3:153

(When you were climbing): This is related to "He turned you away" or "He tests you." Regarding its attachment to "He pardoned you," Al-Tabari said: It is of no consequence. Similar to this is its attachment—as Abu al-Baqa said—to "you disobeyed," or "you disputed," or "you faltered." It is also said: It is related to an implied [verb] such as "Remember." This is considered problematic, as the meaning would become: "Remember, O Muhammad, when you were climbing," which involves two different addressees without a conjunction; therefore, the correct interpretation is "Remember [plural]."

It was answered that "Remember" is intended as the genus of this action, so it implies "Remember this" or "Remember that." It is also possible that it is of the category [of the verse]: "O Prophet, when you [plural] divorce women," though it is not hidden that this is contrary to the apparent meaning. Al-Shihab answered that "Remember" contains the meaning of speech, and the meaning is: "Say to them, O Muhammad, when they are climbing..." and there is no prohibition in such an implication, just as you say to Zayd: "Do you say such-and-such?" For the quoted discourse is intended in its wording, so it does not contradict the aforementioned rule, though they were heedless of it. Reflect on this, for it is also not hidden that this is contrary to the apparent meaning.

Al-is'ad (climbing/ascending) is going away and distancing oneself on the earth. Some differentiated between al-is'ad and al-su'ud, saying that al-is'ad is on the level ground, while al-su'ud is on an incline. Others said there is no difference between as'ada and sa'ada except that the hamza in the former is for entering into something, like asbaha (he entered the morning). The majority hold the first view. Al-Hasan read (in what Ibn Jarir reported from him) tas'aduna with a fatha on the ta and the ayn, and some interpreted this as climbing a mountain. Abu Haywa read tas'aduna with a fatha on the ta and a shadda on the ayn. This is either from "climbing a ladder" if one ascends it, or from "climbing in a valley" if one descends into it; for Al-Akhfash said: "He ascended in the land" if he proceeded and traveled, and "he ascended in the valley and climbed it" if he descended into it. He recited: "Whether you show me today my mount-driver, climbing at times in the lands, and descending." Al-Shammakh also said: "If you dislike my satire, then avoid my wrath; let not my descending and my ascending overtake you." It is reported from more than one person that when the people were tested, they fled into the valley of Uhud. Abu Zayd said: It is said, "He climbed the ladder" (su'udan), and "He climbed the mountain" or "on the mountain" (tas'idan), and they did not recognize sa'ada in that context. Ubayy read "When you were fleeing" (id tas'aduna) into the valley, and this supports the view of those who said al-is'ad is going on level ground, not rising. It was also read yas'aduna with the ya, and the command to relate "when" to "remember" becomes apparent thereby.

(And you were not looking back at anyone): Meaning, you were not remaining for anyone nor turning back. It is from lawa, meaning to turn, and it is frequently used to mean waiting or stopping, for the nature of one who waits is to turn his neck. It was also interpreted as "not returning," which is close to that. Al-Tabari mentioned that this verb is only used in the negative; one does not say, "I turned to such-and-such." Al-Hasan read talawuna with one waw, changing the damma-laden waw into a hamza and dropping it for ease. It was also read taluwna with a damma on the ta as being from alwa, which is a dialect for lawa, and yaluwna with a ya like yas'aduna. Abu al-Baqa mentioned that it is read ala uhudin with two dammas, which is the mountain, and the reproach for it is not apparent. Some explained it by saying the intended meaning is the people of Uhud or the place of the battle, and in this is an indication of their distancing themselves in the feeling of fear and their haste in flight, so that they did not even glance at the location itself.

(And the Messenger was calling you from behind you): Meaning, he was calling you at your rear, or your other group, or he was calling you from your back; for it is said: "Such-and-such came in the rear of the people," or "at their end," if he came behind them. Bringing the Prophet—peace be upon him—under the title of "Messenger" is to indicate that his calling was by way of the message from His Lord, as an exaggeration in reproaching the fugitives. It is reported that he—peace be upon him—was calling out: "To me, servants of Allah! To me, servants of Allah! I am the Messenger of Allah; whoever returns shall have Paradise." This was when the people had fled and were eager in their flight before reaching a distance where the voice could not be heard, so it does not contradict what was mentioned earlier from Ka'b ibn Malik: that when the Messenger of Allah—peace be upon him—was recognized, he called out at the top of his voice: "O assembly of Muslims, rejoice! This is the Messenger of Allah!" Then the Messenger of Allah—peace be upon him—signaled to him to be quiet, for that was at the end of the matter when the fugitives had gone far. The sentence is in the position of a state (hal).

(So He rewarded you): A conjunction to "He turned you away." The hidden pronoun refers to Allah the Almighty. The expression "rewarding" (ithaba) is of the style of irony, akin to his saying: "A greeting between them was a painful blow," or it is a metaphor for requital, meaning: Allah the Almighty requited you for what you disobeyed, (with grief upon grief): meaning, with anguish upon anguish. Most hold that there is no difference between ghamm (grief) and huzn (sadness), and the ba is for accompaniment. The prepositional phrase is established, meaning: He requited you with a grief connected to a grief. The first grief was what they received from killing, wounding, and the victory of the polytheists over them; the second grief was what they received from the false reports of the death of the Prophet—peace be upon him—and the loss of the spoils. Qatada and Al-Rabi' adopted this.

It is said: The second grief was the approaching of Abu Sufyan and his companions upon them while they were with the Messenger of Allah—peace be upon him—on the rock; this is narrated from Al-Suddi. It is said: The intent is mere intensification, meaning He requited you with many griefs connected to one another. Or the ba is for causation, and the prepositional phrase is related to "He rewarded you." The first grief was for the Companions—may Allah be pleased with them—due to the killing and the like, and the second grief was for the Messenger—peace be upon him—due to the violation of his command; meaning: He rewarded you with grief because of the grief you caused the Messenger of Allah—peace be upon him—by your disobedience and violation of his command. Al-Hasan ibn Ali al-Maghribi said: The first grief was for the polytheists because of what they saw of the strength of the Muslims in pursuing them and going out to Hamra al-Asad; the second grief was for the believers because of what befell them; meaning: He rewarded you with the grief of your enemies, the polytheists, because of the grief they caused you. It is said: The ba in this case is for substitution, and both sayings are far-fetched, and the conjunction upon it is not apparent. Even more far-fetched is what is narrated from Al-Hasan: that the first grief was for the believers due to what befell them on the day of Uhud, and the second grief was for the polytheists due to what befell them on the day of Badr. The meaning is: He requited you with grief on the day of Uhud due to killing and wounding because of the grief you caused the polytheists on the day of Badr. This was objected to on the grounds that what befell the polytheists on the day of Badr at the hands of the Muslims only warrants requital with honor, not grief.

It is said: The hidden pronoun in "He rewarded you" refers to the Messenger—peace be upon him—and athabakum means "he consoled you" (asakum), meaning: He made you like him, equal in sadness, so he—peace be upon him—grieved for what befell you just as you grieved for what befell him, and he did not reproach you for your disobedience, to console you and relieve you. This was objected to as being contrary to the apparent meaning, due to the necessity of separating the subjects if the conjunction is to "He turned you away," and the lack of clarity in the sequence unless with strain if the conjunction is to "He calls you." Yes, the justification for it by the saying of the Almighty: "So that you may not grieve for what has escaped you nor for what has afflicted you" is apparent, since the meaning is: "He consoled you with that so that you may not grieve for what has escaped you" of victory, "nor for what has afflicted you" of hardships. The same applies to what Al-Maghribi held. As for the other views, the meaning is: So that you may be practiced in patience during hardships, and thus not grieve for the benefit of what has escaped or the harm of what has come. This interpretation was needed because requital with grief is normally a cause for sadness, not for its absence.

It is said: "La" (not) is redundant, and the meaning is: "So that you may grieve for what has escaped you" of triumph and spoils, "and for what has afflicted you" of wounds and defeat, as a punishment for you. The causal explanation is then apparent. It is not hidden that the emphasis of "la" and its repetition makes the claim of its redundancy unlikely. It is said: The causal explanation is according to its apparent meaning, and "la" is not redundant, and the speech is related to the saying of the Almighty: "And He has already pardoned you," meaning: And Allah the Almighty has already pardoned you so that you may not grieve, etc.; for the pardon of Allah the Almighty removes every grief. It is not hidden what is in this. It is perhaps said: The matter of the causal explanation is also apparent according to what is narrated from Al-Suddi without the need for interpretation or the claim of the redundancy of "la." This is clarified by what Ibn Jarir reported from Mujahid, who said: "A grief and sadness afflicted the people for what befell them regarding their companions who were killed. When they gathered in the mountain pass, Abu Sufyan and his companions stood at the door of the pass, and the believers thought they were going to charge at them and kill them as well, so a sadness afflicted them that made them forget their sadness for their companions. That is the saying of the Almighty: 'So He rewarded you with grief upon grief,' etc." The argument that requital with grief is only a cause for sadness and not for its absence is not accepted absolutely; what prevents a specific grief from being a cause for the removal of another specific grief by the second one becoming so great that the first is forgotten? So reflect upon this.

(And Allah is Expert of what you do): He is All-Knowing of your deeds and what you intended by them. In Al-Maqsad al-Asna, "Expert" (Khabir) is in the meaning of "All-Knowing" (Alim), but knowledge, when attributed to hidden inner matters, is called "expertise" (khibra), and its possessor is called "Expert." In this is an encouragement for obedience and a warning against disobedience.