Tafsir of Al Imran 3:186

(You shall certainly be tested): The response to an omitted oath, meaning: "By Allah, you shall certainly be tested." The intent is: "You shall be treated as one who is being tested," so that your steadfastness upon the truth and your virtuous deeds may become manifest. It is not correct to interpret this trial according to its literal sense, for it is impossible regarding the All-Knowing of the unseen, as has passed.

The address is to the believers, or to them together with the Prophet (peace be upon him). The Exalted informed them of what would happen so that they might prepare themselves to endure it when it occurs, be ready to meet it, and encounter it with graceful patience and steadfastness; for the suddenness of a calamity increases distress, while preparation for hardship lightens the difficulty. To confirm the meaning of the trial for this purpose of alleviating the burden, the emphasis (the emphatic 'lam' and 'nun') was employed. It is also said that it was employed to confirm the occurrence of the thing by which they are tested, as a hyperbole in urging them toward the preparation and readiness intended from them. In either case, the sentence is set forth to console the allies of Allah—the Exalted—regarding what they will encounter at the hands of His enemies, following the consolation provided to them concerning what they had previously undergone. It is said that it was set forth to state that the world is a house of tribulation and trial, and that it has been withheld from the believers so that they may be patient and thus be rewarded, coming after the statement that it is "the enjoyment of delusion." Perhaps the former is better, as is not hidden.

The waw with the damma is the pronoun of the nominative case, and the final radical (lam) of the word is elided for a morphological reason. This waw was vocalized with a damma to repel the heaviness resulting from the meeting of two quiescent letters, and it was damma specifically to indicate the elided letter in the clause. The waw was not turned into an alif—despite the remaining silence and the fatha preceding it—because that condition was accidental.

(In your possessions): Through the obligatory dues, requirements, and needs. Some restricted it to the latter, claiming that the former—exemplified in their discourse as the commanded spending in the cause of Allah and the zakah—does not fit in the thread of "trial," because it is a matter of multiplication, not of destruction. There is a consideration in this, an indication of which has passed in Surat al-Baqarah. Al-Hasan held the opinion of restricting it to the former, but the best approach is to say it is general.

(And in your selves): Through killing, wounding, captivity, diseases, loss of relatives, and all other types of troubles, fears, and hardships that befall them. Possessions were mentioned before selves to ascend to what is more noble, or because calamities regarding possessions are more frequent than those regarding the self.

(And you shall certainly hear from those who were given the Book before you): Meaning, before you were given the Quran; they are the Jews and the Christians. Expressing them in this way is either to intimate the sphere of discord and to signal that what they hear from them is based—according to their claim—upon the Book, or to indicate the gravity of what is issued by them and the severity of its impact on the ears, as it is speech issued by one from whom it is not expected, given that there is a deterrent with him—which is his being given the Book, as is said. The explicit mention of "before" is either to emphasize this intimation and strengthen that sphere, or as a hyperbole regarding the deterrent against such speech issuing from those speakers.

(And from those who associate partners [with Allah]): These are the polytheists of the Arabs.

(Much annoyance): Such as impugning the religion, declaring those who believe to be in error, fabricating lies against Allah—the Exalted—and His Messenger (peace be upon him), and lewdly describing the women of the believers.

(But if you persevere): In these hardships when they arrive.

(And fear [Allah]): Meaning, cling to the piety of Allah and His obedience, and devote yourselves to Him entirely, turning away from everything else completely, such that the arrival of what is loved and the meeting of what is hated become equal to you.

(Then that): A reference to what was mentioned implicitly regarding patience and piety. The use of the distant demonstrative (dhalika) is either because it was not mentioned explicitly—as is said—or to indicate the high degree of these two matters and their lofty status.

The singularization of the letter of address is either by considering each one of the addressees—out of care for the affair of the one addressed—or because the intent of the address is merely to alert without specific regard for the conditions of those addressed.

(Is of the [decisive] matters of resolve): Meaning, the matters that every person should resolve upon due to the complete excellence and nobility therein, or from what Allah has resolved and obligated upon His servants. In both interpretations, 'azm is a verbal noun meaning "the resolved-upon." It is taken from their saying "I resolved the matter," as al-Raghib reported. The more famous form is "I resolved upon the matter," and the claim that nothing else has been heard is not valid—much like the claim that it is invalid to attribute "resolve" to Him—for it is the preparing of the soul and the firm binding of the heart upon what one intends to do, which is impossible regarding Him, the Exalted. What supports the validity of this attribution is that it was read: "So when you have resolved ('azamta)," with a damma on the ta, in which case it signifies the will and the obligation. From this is the saying of Umm Atiyyah (may Allah be pleased with her): "We were forbidden from following funeral processions, but it was not resolved upon us," and what is in another hadith, "He encourages us to pray during Ramadan without a 'azimiyah (firm command)," and their saying, "The resolves ('azamat) of Allah," as al-Azhari reported. From this category is the saying of the jurists: "Abandoning prayer during the period of menstruation is a 'azimiyah (obligatory command)." The sentence is an explanation for the response, situated as if it were said: "And if you persevere and fear Allah, then it is better for you," or "then you have done well," or something similar. It is permitted that 'dhalika' refers to the patience and piety of the addressees; then the sentence itself would be the response to the condition. In casting the command for patience and piety in the form of a conditional statement, there is a manifestation of complete kindness to the servants, the likes of which is not hidden. Some have claimed that this command, to which the verse points, was before the revelation of the verse of fighting, and that with its revelation, this was abrogated. Others have maintained there is no abrogation, and that the command to what was mentioned was of the nature of accommodation that does not contradict the command to fight.