(139–143) “Do not lose heart or grieve, for you will have the upper hand, if you are truly believers. If you have suffered a wound, those people have suffered a similar wound. Such days We alternate among people, so that Allah may make evident those who believe and take martyrs from among you. And Allah does not love the wrongdoers.”
Allah Most High says, encouraging ⦗150⦘ His believing servants, strengthening their resolve, and stirring their determination: “Do not lose heart or grieve.” That is, do not lose heart and become weak in body, and do not grieve in your hearts when calamity befalls you and you are afflicted by this trial. Grief in the heart and weakness in the body would only add to your calamity and aid your enemy against you. Rather, fill your hearts with courage and patience, drive grief from them, and stand firm in fighting your enemy.
Allah Most High states that it is neither fitting nor proper for them to succumb to weakness and grief when they have the upper hand in faith and in their hope for Allah’s victory and reward. Such conduct is not becoming of a believer who is certain of the worldly and otherworldly reward Allah has promised him. Hence He [Most High] says: “For you will have the upper hand, if you are truly believers.”
He then consoled them for the defeat that had befallen them and explained the profound wisdoms arising from it, saying: “If you have suffered a wound, those people have suffered a similar wound.” You and they have thus suffered equally from wounds, but you hope from Allah for what they do not hope, as Allah Most High says: “If you are suffering, they too are suffering as you are; but you hope from Allah for what they do not hope.”
Another wisdom in this is that Allah grants from this world to believers and disbelievers alike, and to the righteous and the wicked. Allah alternates the days among people: one day belongs to this group and another to the other group, because this worldly abode will pass away and perish. This is unlike the abode of the Hereafter, which is exclusively for those who believe.
“So that Allah may make evident those who believe.” This is another of the wisdoms: Allah tests His servants through defeat and affliction so that the believer may be distinguished from the hypocrite. Had victory continued for the believers in every encounter, some who did not truly desire Islam would have entered it. But when various trials occur in some encounters, the true believer—who desires Islam in adversity and prosperity, ease and hardship—is distinguished from one who is not like that.
“And take martyrs from among you.” This too is one of the wisdoms, for martyrdom is among the loftiest ranks in Allah’s sight, and it can be attained only when its causes arise. It is therefore part of His mercy toward His believing servants that He brings about causes their souls dislike, thereby granting them the lofty ranks and everlasting bliss they love.
“And Allah does not love the wrongdoers”—those who wronged themselves and held back from fighting in His cause. This also appears to imply censure of the hypocrites and that Allah detests them; for this reason, He held them back from fighting in His cause:
“Had they intended to go forth, they would have made preparations for it. But Allah disliked their going forth, so He held them back, and it was said, ‘Remain with those who remain behind.’”