“Yet if you pardon, overlook, and forgive, then Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” This concerns one who remained with his family and children and did not emigrate. Then, when he emigrated and saw that those who had preceded him in emigration had acquired understanding of the religion, he intended to punish his wife and children who had held him back from emigrating. If they later joined him in the land of emigration, he would neither spend on them nor confer any good upon them. So Allah, Exalted is He, commanded them to pardon and overlook them.

Ata ibn Yasar said: This was revealed concerning Awf ibn Malik al-Ashja'i. He had a family and children, and whenever he wished to go out on a military expedition, they would weep before him and appeal to his tenderness, saying, “To whom are you leaving us?” Thus, he would feel compassion for them and remain behind (1). Allah then revealed: “Indeed, among your spouses and children are enemies to you,” because they induce you to abandon obedience; so beware of accepting this from them.

“Yet if you pardon, overlook, and forgive,” then do not punish them for having opposed you; for Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

“Your wealth and your children are but a trial, and with Allah is a tremendous reward. (15)”

“Your wealth and your children are but a trial”: an affliction, a test, and a distraction from the Hereafter, through which a person may fall into grave matters, withhold what is due, and engage in what is unlawful. “And with Allah is a tremendous reward.”

Some scholars said: When Allah mentioned enmity, He used the particle min (“among” or “some”) to indicate that it is partial, saying, “Indeed, among your spouses and children are enemies to you,” because not all of them are enemies (2). But He did not use min in His saying, “Your wealth and your children are but a trial,” because they are never devoid of trial and of occupying the heart.

Abdullah ibn Masud used to say: “Let none of you say, ‘O Allah, I seek refuge in You from trial,’ for there is none among you who has wealth, family, and children without also having a trial. Rather, let him say: ‘O Allah, I seek refuge in You from the misguiding trials.’” (3)

Abu Mansur Muhammad ibn Abd al-Malik al-Muzaffari informed us; Abu Sa'id Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Fadl, the jurist, informed us; Abu al-Hasan Ahmad ibn Ishaq, the jurist, informed us; Ahmad ibn Bakr ibn Yusuf narrated to us; Ali ibn al-Hasan informed us; al-Husayn ibn Waqid informed us, from Abdullah ibn Buraydah, who said: “I heard Abu Buraydah say: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was delivering a sermon to us when Hasan and Husayn came, wearing red shirts, walking and stumbling. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, descended from”