; for Allah’s decree is bound to come to pass.

• “So that Allah may test” – i.e., that He may examine.
• “What is in your breasts” – that is, what lies in your hearts of sincerity and hypocrisy.
• “And that He may purge what is in your hearts” – meaning: that He may distinguish the intentions they harbor.
• “Knower of what is hidden in the breasts” – He knows what is in the hearts; He has no need to test, but He does so in order that the matter become manifest to people and that reward and punishment be justly assigned.

Overall meaning of the verse: Allah – exalted be He – informs of what the hypocrites concealed on the day of Uḥud: their objection to the divine decree and their discontent with what befell them from Allah. They said, “Had the choice and counsel been left to us, we would not have gone out, and we would have escaped the defeat and the killing.” Allah replied that what occurred was a predestined decree; remaining in their houses would not have saved them. Lamentation and the phrase “if only” bring no benefit whatsoever.

Relevance of the verse to this chapter: Uttering “if only” about what has already been decreed is impermissible; it is the speech of hypocrites.

Lessons derived from the verse:
1- The prohibition of saying “if only” regarding matters already decreed, for it signifies dissatisfaction with destiny and rekindles grief in the soul. Saying “if only” out of remorse for missing an act of obedience, however, is unobjectionable, because it shows eagerness for good.
2- The legitimacy of submitting to the divine decree and destiny without resentment.
3- Caution cannot avert what has been decreed.
4- Whoever has death decreed for him in a given place must inevitably go there, even if he tries to avoid it.