At-Tawbah: 126

"Do they not see"—meaning the hypocrites. The interrogative (hamzah) is for denial and rebuke. The discussion regarding the conjunction is well-known. Hamza, Yaqub, and Ubayy ibn Ka’b recited it with the ta (the letter ta instead of ya, i.e., tarawna), meaning the address is directed to the believers, and the interrogative is for expressing astonishment; that is, "Do they not know?" It is also said: "Do they not perceive?"

"That they are tried"—meaning the hypocrites—"in every year once or twice," with various types of afflictions, such as illness and hardship, which serve as reminders of sins and the standing before the Knower of the Unseen, leading to faith in Him (Exalted is He) and refraining from their state. In a report: "When the servant falls ill and is then restored to health, but does not increase in goodness, the angels say: 'This is the one whom we treated, but the treatment did not benefit him.'" Therefore, "trial" (fitnah) here means affliction and torment. It is also said that it means "testing," and the meaning is: "Do they not see that they are tested by striving (jihad) alongside the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), witnessing the signs that are revealed to him, especially the signs that expose their foul deeds?"

"Yet they do not repent"—from what they are in—"nor do they remember," nor do they take heed. On the reading of the majority, the sentence is a conjunction linked to "see," falling under the scope of denial and rebuke. On the other reading, it is a conjunction linked to "they are tried." Regarding the "once or twice," some have explicitly stated that it is merely for expressing frequency, not to specify that it occurs exactly according to the mentioned number. Abdullah (ibn Mas'ud) recited: "Do they not see that they are tried in every year once or twice, and they do not remember?"