“We shall surely test you with something of fear, hunger, loss of wealth and lives, and fruits; but give glad tidings to the patient—those who, when calamity strikes them, say, ‘Indeed, we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we shall return.’ Upon them are blessings and mercy from their Lord, and they are the rightly guided.” (155–157)

His words, exalted is He: “We shall surely test you”—that is, We shall surely put you to the test, O community of Muhammad. The lam is used in response to an oath; its sense is: By Allah, We shall surely test you. Allah tests in order to make the obedient distinct from the disobedient, not in order to learn something of which He had not previously known.

“With something of fear”: Ibn Abbas said, “That is, fear of the enemy.” “And hunger”: that is, drought. “And loss of wealth”: through loss and destruction. “And lives”: that is, through killing and death; it has also been said, through illness and old age. “And fruits”: that is, blights affecting the crops.

It is related from al-Shafi‘i that he said: Fear means fear of Allah, exalted is He; hunger means fasting in Ramadan; loss of wealth means the payment of zakah and charitable donations; lives means illnesses; and fruits means the death of children, for a man’s child is the fruit of his heart.

Abd al-Wahid ibn Ahmad al-Mulayhi informed us; Abu Mansur Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Sam‘an informed us; Abu Ja‘far Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Abd al-Jabbar al-Rayani informed us; Humayd ibn Zanjawayh informed us; al-Hasan ibn Musa informed us; Hammad ibn Salamah informed us, from Abu Sinan, who said: “I buried my son Sinan, while Abu Talhah al-Khawlani stood at the edge of the grave. When I intended to leave, he took my hand and brought me out. He then said, ‘Shall I not give you glad tidings? Al-Dahhak related to me, from Arzab, from Abu Musa al-Ash‘ari, that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “When the child of a servant dies, Allah, exalted is He, says to His angels: ‘Have you taken My servant’s child?’ They reply, ‘Yes.’ He says, ‘Have you taken the fruit of his heart?’ They reply, ‘Yes.’ He says, ‘What did My servant say?’ They reply, ‘He said, “Indeed, we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we shall return,” and he praised You.’ He says: ‘Build for him a house in Paradise and call it the House of Praise.’”’” (1)

“But give glad tidings to the patient”—those who are patient in the face of trials and afflictions. He then described them, saying:

“Those who, when calamity strikes them, say, ‘Indeed, we belong to Allah’”—as His servants and His possessions—“and indeed to Him we shall return”—in the Hereafter.

Abd al-Wahid ibn Ahmad al-Mulayhi informed us; Abu Mansur Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Sam‘an informed us; Abu Ja‘far al-Rayani informed us; Humayd ibn Zanjawayh informed us; Muhadir ibn al-Muwarri‘ informed us; Sa‘d informed us, from Umar ibn Kathir ibn Aflah.