in particular.
“Do not weaken or grieve: you shall have the upper hand, if you are believers. (139) If a wound has touched you, a similar wound has also touched the other people. Such days We alternate among people, so that Allah may make evident those who believe and may take martyrs from among you. And Allah does not love the wrongdoers. (140)”
Concerning His saying, “Do not weaken or grieve”: this is an exhortation to the Companions of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to strive in jihad, despite the killing and wounds that had befallen them on the day of Uhud. Allah, exalted is He, says: Do not weaken—that is, do not become feeble or lose courage in fighting your enemies because of the killing and injuries you have suffered. On that day, five of the Emigrants were killed, among them Hamzah ibn Abd al-Muttalib and Musab ibn Umayr; and seventy men of the Ansar were killed.
“Do not grieve, for you shall have the upper hand”: that is, the final outcome shall be yours, through victory and triumph, “if you are believers”—meaning, since you are believers; that is, because you are believers.
Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: When the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, were defeated and withdrew into the mountain pass, Khalid ibn al-Walid came with the cavalry of the polytheists, intending to gain the high ground over them on the mountain. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “O Allah, do not let them rise above us. O Allah, we have no strength except through You.” Then a group of Muslim archers sprang up, climbed the mountain, and shot at the cavalry of the polytheists until they routed them. (1) This is the meaning of His saying, “You shall have the upper hand.”
Al-Kalbi said: This verse was revealed after the day of Uhud, when the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, commanded his Companions to pursue the enemy despite the wounds they had sustained. This was difficult for the Muslims, so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse. Evidence for this is His saying, “Do not weaken in pursuing the enemy” (al-Nisa 4:104).
“If a wound has touched you”: Hamzah, al-Kisai, and Abu Bakr recited it as qurh, with a u vowel on the qaf, wherever it occurs; the others recited it as qarh, with an a vowel. They are two linguistic variants with the same meaning, like juhd and jahd, both meaning exertion. Al-Farra said: qarh, with an a vowel, means the wound itself, whereas qurh, with a u vowel, means the pain of the wound.
This addresses the Muslims as they returned from Uhud in distress and sorrow. Allah, exalted is He, says: “If a wound has touched you” on the day of Uhud, “a similar wound has also touched the other people” on the day of Badr. “Such days We alternate among people”: one day is in their favor and another is against them. The Muslims were granted victory over the polytheists on the day of Badr, until they killed seventy of them and took seventy captive; and the polytheists were granted victory over the Muslims on the day of Uhud, until they wounded seventy of them and killed seventy-five.
Abd al-Wahid ibn Ahmad al-Mulayhi informed us; Ahmad ibn Abdullah al-Numaymi informed us; Muhammad ibn Yusuf informed us; Muhammad ibn Ismail informed us; Amr ibn Khalid informed us; Zuhayr informed us; Abu Ishaq informed us, saying: I heard al-Bara ibn Azib say: On the day of Uhud, the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, appointed Abdullah ibn Jubayr as commander over the foot soldiers, who were fifty men. He said: “Even if you see birds snatching us away, then do not