Tafsir al-Sadi - Abd al-Rahman al-Sadi’ - (152)

Tafsir al-SadiAbd al-Rahman al-Sadi’

(153–154) “When you were fleeing without looking back at anyone, while the Messenger was calling you from behind, He repaid you with sorrow upon sorrow, so that you would not grieve over what had escaped you or what had befallen you. And Allah is fully aware of what you do.”

Allah reminds them of their condition when they fled from the fighting and reproaches them for it. He says, “When you were fleeing,” that is, pressing on in flight, “without looking back at anyone.” In other words, none of you turned toward or looked at anyone else; your sole concern was to flee and escape the fighting.

Yet no grave danger threatened you, for you were not at the rear, closest to the enemy and directly engaged in the fray. Rather, “the Messenger was calling you from behind,” that is, from the side facing the enemy, saying, “Come to me, servants of Allah!” But you neither turned toward him nor halted for him. Fleeing itself warranted blame, but your failure to answer the Messenger’s summons—which required you to give precedence to him over your own selves—warranted even greater blame. “He repaid you,” meaning that He recompensed you for what you had done, “with sorrow upon sorrow”: sorrow following sorrow—sorrow over the loss of victory and spoils, sorrow over your defeat, and then a sorrow that made you forget every other sorrow: hearing that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) had been killed.

Yet, through His kindness and gracious care for His servants, Allah made the convergence of all these events good for His believing servants. He therefore said, “so that you would not grieve over what had escaped you” of victory and triumph, “or what had befallen you” of defeat, death, and wounds. Once you learned for certain that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) had not been killed, those calamities became easier for you to bear, and you rejoiced that he was alive, for his presence consoled you for every calamity and trial. How wondrous are the mysteries and wisdom that Allah embeds within afflictions and trials! All of this proceeds from His knowledge and His perfect awareness of your deeds, both outward and inward. Hence He said, “And Allah is fully aware of what you do.”

It is also possible that the words, “so that you would not ⦗153⦘ grieve over what had escaped you or what had befallen you,” mean that He decreed that sorrow and calamity for you so that your souls might become accustomed and trained to endure afflictions patiently, and so that bearing hardships might become easier for you:

﴿١٥٣ - ١٥٤﴾ ﴿إِذْ تُصْعِدُونَ وَلا تَلْوُونَ عَلَى أَحَدٍ وَالرَّسُولُ يَدْعُوكُمْ فِي أُخْرَاكُمْ فَأَثَابَكُمْ غَمًّا بِغَمٍّ لِكَيْلا تَحْزَنُوا عَلَى مَا فَاتَكُمْ وَلا مَا أَصَابَكُمْ وَاللَّهُ خَبِيرٌ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ﴾ . يذكرهم تعالى حالهم في وقت انهزامهم عن القتال، ويعاتبهم على ذلك، فقال: ﴿إذ تصعدون﴾ أي: تجدون في الهرب ﴿ولا تلوون على أحد﴾ أي: لا يلوي أحد منكم على أحد، ولا ينظر إليه، بل ليس لكم هم إلا الفرار والنجاء عن القتال. والحال أنه ليس عليكم خطر كبير، إذ لستم آخر الناس مما يلي الأعداء، ويباشر الهيجاء، بل ﴿الرسول يدعوكم في أخراكم﴾ أي: مما يلي القوم يقول: "إليَّ عباد الله" فلم تلتفتوا إليه، ولا عرجتم عليه، فالفرار نفسه موجب للوم، ودعوة الرسول الموجبة لتقديمه على النفس، أعظم لَوْمًا بتخلفكم عنها، ﴿فأثابكم﴾ أي: جازاكم على فعلكم ﴿غما بغم﴾ أي: غما يتبع غما، غم بفوات النصر وفوات الغنيمة، وغم بانهزامكم، وغم أنساكم كل غم، وهو سماعكم أن محمدا ﷺ قد قتل. ولكن الله -بلطفه وحسن نظره لعباده- جعل اجتماع هذه الأمور لعباده المؤمنين خيرا لهم، فقال: ﴿لكيلا تحزنوا على ما فاتكم﴾ من النصر والظفر، ﴿ولا ما أصابكم﴾ من الهزيمة والقتل والجراح، إذا تحققتم أن الرسول ﷺ لم يقتل هانت عليكم تلك المصيبات، واغتبطتم بوجوده المسلي عن كل مصيبة ومحنة، فلله ما في ضمن البلايا والمحن من الأسرار والحكم، وكل هذا صادر عن علمه وكمال خبرته بأعمالكم، وظواهركم وبواطنكم، ولهذا قال: ﴿والله خبير بما تعملون﴾ . ويحتمل أن معنى قوله: ﴿لكيلا ⦗١٥٣⦘ تحزنوا على ما فاتكم ولا ما أصابكم﴾ يعني: أنه قدَّر ذلك الغم والمصيبة عليكم، لكي تتوطن نفوسكم، وتمرنوا على الصبر على المصيبات، ويخف عليكم تحمل المشقات: