“Wherever you may be, death will overtake you, even if you are in lofty towers. If something good happens to them, they say, ‘This is from Allah.’ But if something bad happens to them, they say, ‘This is because of you.’ Say, ‘Everything is from Allah.’ So what is the matter with these people that they can scarcely understand any statement? (78) Whatever good befalls you is from Allah, and whatever evil befalls you is from yourself. We have sent you to all people as a Messenger, and Allah is sufficient as a Witness.” (79)

His statement, exalted is He: “Wherever you may be, death will overtake you,” meaning: death will come upon you. This was revealed concerning the hypocrites who said regarding those slain at Uhud, “Had they remained with us, they would not have died or been killed.” Allah ⦗91/A⦘ answered them with His statement: “Wherever you may be, death will overtake you.” (1) “Even if you are in lofty towers”: the towers are fortresses and castles, and “lofty” means raised high and tall. Qatadah said: its meaning is, in fortified palaces. Ikrimah said: plastered buildings; shayd means gypsum.

“If something good happens to them” was revealed concerning the Jews and the hypocrites. When the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, arrived in Medina, they said, “Ever since this man and his companions came among us, we have continued to suffer losses in our fruits and crops.”

Allah, exalted is He, said: “If something good happens to them”—meaning the Jews—“something good,” that is, prosperity and low prices, “they say, ‘This is from Allah,’” for us. “But if something bad happens to them,” meaning drought and high prices, “they say, ‘This is because of you,’” that is, because of the ill omen of Muhammad and his Companions.

It was also said that “something good” refers to victory and the spoils of war on the day of Badr, while “something bad” refers to killing and defeat on the day of Uhud. They say, “This is because of you,” meaning: “You, Muhammad, are the one who led us into this.” According to this interpretation, these were the words of the hypocrites. “Say,” O Muhammad, to them: “Everything is from Allah,” meaning that both the good and the bad are all from Allah. Then He reproached them for their ignorance, saying: “So what is the matter with these people,” meaning the hypocrites and the Jews, “that they can scarcely understand any statement?” That is, they do not understand any speech. It was also said that “statement” here means the Quran; that is, they do not understand the meanings of the Quran.

Regarding His statement, “So what is the matter with these people?” al-Farra said: This expression became so common in speech that people imagined the lam to be attached to it, and that the two formed one word. Thus, in some instances they separated the lam from what follows it, while in others they joined it. The connected form is the recitation, and it is not permissible to pause at the lam, because it is a preposition.

His statement, exalted is He: “Whatever good befalls you,” whether goodness or a blessing, “is from Allah. And whatever evil befalls you,” whether an affliction or something you dislike, “is from yourself,” that is, because of your sins. The address is directed to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, but what is intended is others, as in His statement, exalted is He: “Whatever misfortune befalls you is because of what your own hands have earned.” (al-Shura 42:30) The Qadariyyah appeal to the apparent meaning of this verse,