Tafsir of Al Imran 3:196

The address is directed to the Prophet (may Allah exalt his mention and grant him peace), though the intended audience is his nation. It is common that the leader of a people is addressed with something, while his followers are intended, such that the address to him stands in the place of an address to them. It is also possible that it is general for the Prophet (may Allah exalt his mention and grant him peace) and others, by way of generalization, to console the hearts of those addressed. It has been said: It is an address to him (peace and blessings be upon him) with the intention of confirming him upon what he is already upon, similar to the Almighty’s saying: {And do not obey the deniers}. This is weakened by the fact that he (peace and blessings be upon him) would not experience wavering such that he would need to be commanded to be steadfast; there is consideration in this [objection] that is not hidden.

The prohibition in meaning is for the addressee—that is: Do not be deceived by the indulgence that the disbelievers possess regarding their earnings, trades, farms, and abundance of fortune. The prohibition was explicitly placed upon the "fluctuation" by treating the cause as the effect, for the deception of the fluctuation toward the addressee is the cause, and his being deceived by it is the effect. Thus, the cause was forbidden by the incoming prohibition, so that the effect—which is the addressee being deceived by that cause—might be prevented, by way of demonstration; and this is more eloquent than placing the prohibition upon the effect from the outset. They said: This is the opposite of the speaker’s saying, "Let me not see you here," for in that [expression] is the prohibition of the effect—which is the seeing—so that the cause might be prevented—which is the presence of the addressee.

It was objected to this that the "deceiver" and the "deceived" are correlatives, and they have explicitly stated that "cutting" and "being cut," and the like, are examples of correlatives. It has been established that it is not valid for one of two correlatives to be the cause of the other; rather, they are both at the same level. Therefore, it is better to say: The prohibition was linked to the fluctuation being a "deceiver" to convey the prohibition of the addressee being deceived, because the negation of one of two correlatives necessitates the negation of the other. It is not hidden that this is built upon what has not received consensus, and perhaps sound judgment dictates the contrary.

The relative pronoun [the ones who disbelieve] was interpreted as the polytheists from the people of Makkah. Al-Wahidi mentioned that they were in ease and a soft life, trading and enjoying luxury, so some of the believers said: "The enemies of Allah are in what we see of good, while we are perishing from hunger and hardship," so the verse was revealed. Others interpreted it as the Jews, and it was narrated that they would travel throughout the land and acquire wealth, while the believers were in distress, so it was revealed. Al-Farra’ favored this, but the first view is more apparent.

Regardless, the sentence is driven to console the believers and urge them to patience by clarifying the ugliness of the worldly shares given to the disbelievers, following the clarification of the beauty of the abundant reward and eternal bliss that they [the believers] will attain. Ya’qub, through the narration of Ruways and Zayd, read it as {wa la yaghunnaka} (and let not... deceive you) with a light nun.