Tafsir of Al Imran 3:170

"From His bounty" relates to "given them." "From" (min) is either for causality, or for the beginning of the end-point, or it relates to an omitted entity that serves as a state for the implied pronoun returning to the relative noun (ma), in which case "from" indicates partiality (tab’id). The estimation is: "with what He has given them, in the state of its being a portion of His bounty." The intent by this "given thing" is the various kinds of bliss that the martyrs obtain on the Day of Resurrection, or after martyrdom, or the very attainment of success through martyrdom in the path of Allah Almighty.

It is also permissible that the estimate is "and they are receiving glad tidings" (wa hum yastabshiruna), in which case the sentence is a state from the pronoun in farihin or from the object pronoun in atahum. The need for estimating a subject (mubtada’) when making it a state arises because a positive imperfect verb (mudari’), if used as a state, is not conjoined with waw.

It is also said that it is in the accusative case due to the removal of the preposition, meaning: "lest there be no fear upon them," or "that there be no fear upon them." In this view, it serves as the object of yastabshiruna (the maf’ul li-ajlihi), meaning: they rejoice at the arrival of their brothers who stayed behind them to join them, because there will be no fear upon them, etc. Thus, the rejoicing in this case is not over their [the brothers'] conditions.

This is supported by what is narrated from al-Saddi: that the martyr is brought a record containing a mention of those of his brothers who are about to join him, and he is given the news of that, so he rejoices just as the people of an absent one rejoice at his arrival in this world. In this view, the pronoun in ‘alayhim (upon them) and what follows refers to the first group ("those who have not joined"), whereas in the first view, it refers to the second group.

Some people have interpreted "those who have not joined them" as those who fell behind in virtue from the rank of the martyrs—the warriors who fought in the path of Allah but were not killed, remaining until they died in their beds. For although they did not attain the ranks of the martyrs, they also possess a great virtue such that "there is no fear upon them, nor shall they grieve," due to the increased merit of Jihad. It is clear that this is contrary to the apparent meaning of the verse, even if the virtue of the warriors—even if they were not killed—is something about which no two rams would butt heads [i.e., it is an undisputed fact].

In any case, "that" (anna) is the lightened form (al-mukhaffafah), its subject is the implied pronoun of the situation (damir al-sha’n), and its predicate is the negated sentence. The meaning is: there is no fear upon them regarding those they left behind from their offspring, for Allah Almighty takes charge of them; "nor shall they grieve" over what they left behind of their wealth, for Allah Almighty has granted them abundant compensation. Or, there is no fear upon them regarding what they are approaching, because Allah Almighty has purified their sins through martyrdom, "nor shall they grieve" over departing from the world, out of joy for the Hereafter. Or, there is no fear upon them in the world regarding being killed, for it is the very essence of life that one should desire, let alone fear and avoid, and "nor shall they grieve" over the separation. It is also said that both of these negations concern the Hereafter: they do not fear the occurrence of anything hateful from its terrors, nor do they grieve over the missing of anything beloved from its bliss. This is a plausible interpretation.

The goal is to state the permanence of the negation, not to state the negation of its permanence, as the usage of the imperfect verb in the second clause might suggest. For although the negation enters upon the imperfect verb itself, it signifies permanence and continuity according to the context, as has been pointed out previously.