Tafsir of Al-Baqarah 2:155

The Believer is Patient with the Affliction and thus gains a Reward Allah says;

ولنبلونكم بشيء من الخوف والجوع

And certainly, We shall test you with something of fear, hunger, Allah informs us that He tests and tries His servants, just as He said in another Ayah:

ولنبلونكم حتى نعلم المجهدين منكم والصبرين ونبلو أخبركم

And surely, We shall try you till We test those who strive hard (for the cause of Allah) and As-Sabirin (the patient), and We shall test your facts (i.e., the one who is a liar, and the one who is truthful). (47:31) Hence, He tests them with the bounty sometimes and sometimes with the afflictions of fear and hunger. Allah said in another Ayah:

فٲذاقها الله لباس الجوع والخوف

So Allah made it taste extreme of hunger (famine) and fear. (16:112) The frightened and the hungry persons show the effects of the affliction outwardly and this is why Allah has used here the word `Libas' (cover or clothes) of fear and hunger. In the Ayat above, Allah used the words:

بشيء من الخوف والجوع

(with something of fear, hunger), meaning, a little of each. Then Allah said,

ونقص من اﻻموال

loss of wealth, meaning, some of the wealth will be destroyed,

واﻻنفس

lives, meaning, losing friends, relatives and loved ones to death,

والثمرات

and fruits, meaning, the gardens and the farms will not produce the usual or expected amounts. This is why Allah said next:

بشر الصابرين

but give glad tidings to As-Sabirin (the patient). He then explained whom He meant by `the patient' whom He praised:

الذين إذا أصابتهم مصيبة قالوا إنا لله وإنا إليه راجعون