Tafsir of Al Imran 3:156-158

"And they said to their brethren..." Meaning: On account of their brethren, as in His saying: "And those who disbelieved said to those who believed, 'If it had been good, they would not have preceded us to it'" (Al-Ahqaf: 11). The meaning of "brotherhood" here is agreement in kind or lineage.

"If they had traveled in the land..." Meaning: If they had journeyed through it and gone far for trade or other purposes.

"Or had been warriors..." The plural of ghazin (warrior), like ‘af and ‘afa (as in the saying: ‘afa al-hiyadu ujunu). It is also recited with a light zay (without the ta), derived from ghuzah.

If you ask: How is it said, "If they traveled... they said," when the traveling is in the future? I say: It is a narration of a past state, as if you said, "At the time they travel in the land."

If you ask: What does "to make it" (li-yaj‘alahu) relate to? I say: It relates to "they said." They said that and believed it, so that it might become "a regret in their hearts." The lam is like the one in: "That it might become for them an enemy and a cause of grief" (Al-Qasas: 8). Or, it means: "Do not be like them in uttering that statement and believing it, so that Allah may make it a regret in their hearts specifically, and protect your hearts from it."

If you ask: What is the meaning of attributing the action to Allah? I say: It means that when they hold that corrupt belief, Allah—Mighty and Majestic is He—places grief and regret in their hearts and constricts their chests as a punishment. Their holding the belief is their action, while the grief, regret, and constriction of the chest that follow are the action of Allah—Mighty and Majestic is He—as in His saying: "He makes his chest tight and constricted, as though he were climbing into the sky" (Al-An‘am: 125). It is also possible that this refers to what the prohibition implies: Do not be like them, so that Allah may make your non-resemblance to them a regret in their hearts, for your opposition to their words and beliefs is something that grieves and enrages them.

"And Allah gives life and causes death." A refutation of their statement. Meaning: The matter is in His hand; He may give life to the traveler and the warrior, and cause death to the one who stays behind and sits, as He wills.

It is narrated that Khalid ibn al-Walid (may Allah be pleased with him) said upon his death: "There is not a span of my body that does not have a strike or a stab, yet here I am, dying as a camel dies. May the eyes of the cowards never sleep."

"And Allah is All-Seeing of what you do." Do not be like them. (It is also recited with a ya [He is All-Seeing of what they do], referring to the disbelievers).

"For a forgiveness..." This is the answer to the oath, and it stands in place of the answer to the conditional clause. The same applies to: "And to Allah you will be gathered."

He is refuting the disbelievers—or those who share their false assumptions—who claimed that if their brethren who traveled or fought had remained in Medina, they would not have died. He forbade the Muslims from such thinking because it is a cause for abandoning Jihad. Then He said to them: Even if what you fear of destruction by death or killing in the way of Allah befalls you, what you attain of forgiveness and mercy through death in the way of Allah is better than what they amass of the world and its benefits, had they not died.

Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "Better than a mountain of red gold." (It is also recited with a ya [what they amass], referring to the disbelievers).

"And to Allah you will be gathered." To Allah, the Merciful, the One of vast mercy, the Rewarder, the One of great reward, you will be gathered. The placement of the name of Allah here, with its precedence and the attachment of the lam to the word connected to it, carries a significance that is not hidden. It is also recited as mutum (with the mim damma or kasra), from mata-yamutu (to die).