وَإِذْ غَدَوْتَ مِنْ أَهْلِكَ تُبَوِّئُ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ مَقَٰعِدَ لِلْقِتَالِ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ
When you left your family at dawn to settle the faithful in their positions for battle —and Allah is all-hearing, all-knowing.
إِذْ هَمَّت طَّآئِفَتَانِ مِنكُمْ أَن تَفْشَلَا وَٱللَّهُ وَلِيُّهُمَا ۗ وَعَلَى ٱللَّهِ فَلْيَتَوَكَّلِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ
When two groups among you were about to lose courage—though Allah is their guardian, and in Allah let all the faithful put their trust.
وَلَقَدْ نَصَرَكُمُ ٱللَّهُ بِبَدْرٍۢ وَأَنتُمْ أَذِلَّةٌۭ ۖ فَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ
Certainly Allah helped you at Badr, when you were weak [in the enemy’s eyes]. So be wary of Allah so that you may give thanks.
إِذْ تَقُولُ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَلَن يَكْفِيَكُمْ أَن يُمِدَّكُمْ رَبُّكُم بِثَلَٰثَةِ ءَالَٰفٍۢ مِّنَ ٱلْمَلَٰٓئِكَةِ مُنزَلِينَ
When you were saying to the faithful, ‘Is it not enough for you that your Lord should aid you with three thousand angels sent down?’
بَلَىٰٓ ۚ إِن تَصْبِرُوا۟ وَتَتَّقُوا۟ وَيَأْتُوكُم مِّن فَوْرِهِمْ هَٰذَا يُمْدِدْكُمْ رَبُّكُم بِخَمْسَةِ ءَالَٰفٍۢ مِّنَ ٱلْمَلَٰٓئِكَةِ مُسَوِّمِينَ
Yes, if you are steadfast and Godwary, and should they come at you suddenly, your Lord will aid you with five thousand angels sent in [to the scene of battle].
وَمَا جَعَلَهُ ٱللَّهُ إِلَّا بُشْرَىٰ لَكُمْ وَلِتَطْمَئِنَّ قُلُوبُكُم بِهِۦ ۗ وَمَا ٱلنَّصْرُ إِلَّا مِنْ عِندِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلْعَزِيزِ ٱلْحَكِيمِ
Allah did not appoint it but as a good news for you and to reassure with it your hearts; and victory comes only from Allah, the All-mighty, the All-wise,
لِيَقْطَعَ طَرَفًۭا مِّنَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوٓا۟ أَوْ يَكْبِتَهُمْ فَيَنقَلِبُوا۟ خَآئِبِينَ
that He may cut down a section of the faithless, or subdue them, so that they retreat disappointed.
لَيْسَ لَكَ مِنَ ٱلْأَمْرِ شَىْءٌ أَوْ يَتُوبَ عَلَيْهِمْ أَوْ يُعَذِّبَهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ ظَٰلِمُونَ
You have no hand in the matter, whether He accepts their repentance or punishes them, for they are indeed wrongdoers.
وَلِلَّهِ مَا فِى ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَمَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ ۚ يَغْفِرُ لِمَن يَشَآءُ وَيُعَذِّبُ مَن يَشَآءُ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ غَفُورٌۭ رَّحِيمٌۭ
To Allah belongs whatever there is in the heavens and the earth: He forgives whomever He wishes and punishes whomever He wishes, and Allah is all-forgiving, all-merciful.
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا تَأْكُلُوا۟ ٱلرِّبَوٰٓا۟ أَضْعَٰفًۭا مُّضَٰعَفَةًۭ ۖ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ
O you who have faith! Do not exact usury, twofold and severalfold, and be wary of Allah so that you may be felicitous.
وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱلنَّارَ ٱلَّتِىٓ أُعِدَّتْ لِلْكَٰفِرِينَ
Beware of the Fire, which has been prepared for the faithless,
وَأَطِيعُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَٱلرَّسُولَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ
and obey Allah and the Apostle so that you may be granted [His] mercy.
۞ وَسَارِعُوٓا۟ إِلَىٰ مَغْفِرَةٍۢ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَجَنَّةٍ عَرْضُهَا ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتُ وَٱلْأَرْضُ أُعِدَّتْ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ
Hasten towards your Lord’s forgiveness and a paradise as vast as the heavens and the earth, prepared for the Godwary
ٱلَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ فِى ٱلسَّرَّآءِ وَٱلضَّرَّآءِ وَٱلْكَٰظِمِينَ ٱلْغَيْظَ وَٱلْعَافِينَ عَنِ ٱلنَّاسِ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ يُحِبُّ ٱلْمُحْسِنِينَ
—those who spend in ease and adversity, and suppress their anger, and excuse [the faults of] the people, and Allah loves the virtuous;
وَٱلَّذِينَ إِذَا فَعَلُوا۟ فَٰحِشَةً أَوْ ظَلَمُوٓا۟ أَنفُسَهُمْ ذَكَرُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ فَٱسْتَغْفَرُوا۟ لِذُنُوبِهِمْ وَمَن يَغْفِرُ ٱلذُّنُوبَ إِلَّا ٱللَّهُ وَلَمْ يُصِرُّوا۟ عَلَىٰ مَا فَعَلُوا۟ وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ
and those who, when they commit an indecent act or wrong themselves, remember Allah, and plead [to Allah seeking His] forgiveness for their sins—and who forgives sins except Allah?—and who knowingly do not persist in what [sins] they have committed.
أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ جَزَآؤُهُم مَّغْفِرَةٌۭ مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ وَجَنَّٰتٌۭ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَٰرُ خَٰلِدِينَ فِيهَا ۚ وَنِعْمَ أَجْرُ ٱلْعَٰمِلِينَ
Their reward is forgiveness from their Lord, and gardens with streams running in them, to remain in them [forever]. How excellent is the reward of the workers!
قَدْ خَلَتْ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ سُنَنٌۭ فَسِيرُوا۟ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ فَٱنظُرُوا۟ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَٰقِبَةُ ٱلْمُكَذِّبِينَ
Certain [Divine] precedents have passed before you. So travel through the land and observe how was the fate of the deniers.
هَٰذَا بَيَانٌۭ لِّلنَّاسِ وَهُدًۭى وَمَوْعِظَةٌۭ لِّلْمُتَّقِينَ
This is an explanation for mankind, and a guidance and advice for the Godwary.
وَلَا تَهِنُوا۟ وَلَا تَحْزَنُوا۟ وَأَنتُمُ ٱلْأَعْلَوْنَ إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ
Do not weaken or grieve: you shall have the upper hand, should you be faithful.
إِن يَمْسَسْكُمْ قَرْحٌۭ فَقَدْ مَسَّ ٱلْقَوْمَ قَرْحٌۭ مِّثْلُهُۥ ۚ وَتِلْكَ ٱلْأَيَّامُ نُدَاوِلُهَا بَيْنَ ٱلنَّاسِ وَلِيَعْلَمَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَيَتَّخِذَ مِنكُمْ شُهَدَآءَ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ ٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ
If wounds afflict you, like wounds have already afflicted those people; and We make such vicissitudes rotate among mankind, so that Allah may ascertain those who have faith, and that He may take martyrs from among you, and Allah does not like the wrongdoers.
وَلِيُمَحِّصَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَيَمْحَقَ ٱلْكَٰفِرِينَ
And so that Allah may purge [the hearts of] those who have faith and that He may wipe out the faithless.
أَمْ حَسِبْتُمْ أَن تَدْخُلُوا۟ ٱلْجَنَّةَ وَلَمَّا يَعْلَمِ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِينَ جَٰهَدُوا۟ مِنكُمْ وَيَعْلَمَ ٱلصَّٰبِرِينَ
Do you suppose that you would enter paradise, while Allah has not yet ascertained those of you who have waged jihad and He has not ascertained the steadfast?
وَلَقَدْ كُنتُمْ تَمَنَّوْنَ ٱلْمَوْتَ مِن قَبْلِ أَن تَلْقَوْهُ فَقَدْ رَأَيْتُمُوهُ وَأَنتُمْ تَنظُرُونَ
Certainly you were longing for death before you had encountered it. Then certainly, you saw it, as you were looking on.
English translation: Ali Quli Qarai
Sources present: Ṭabarsī, Majmaʿ al-Bayān [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan]; Ṭūsī, al-Tibyān [tusi_al_tibyan]; Baḥrānī, al-Burhān [bahrani_al_burhan]; al-Qummī, Tafsīr al-Qummī [qummi]; An Enlightening Commentary [enlightening_commentary]. — Ṭabāṭabāʾī's al-Mīzān is SILENT for this passage: its volume covering Āl ʿImrān 121–200 is not hosted on al-islam.org (404) and almizan.org is a JavaScript single-page app that could not be scraped; al-Mīzān was therefore not retrieved for ayāt 121–200, and is marked is_silent rather than invented.
The passage opens the Battle of Uḥud — the Prophet posting the believers and the two clans who nearly faltered (vv.121–122) — recalls the victory of Badr and the reinforcing angels (vv.123–127), teaches that requital is God's alone (vv.128–129), forbids usury (vv.130–132), calls to hasten toward forgiveness and the Garden of the God-fearing (vv.133–136), and draws the lessons of Uḥud: do not lose heart, the days are alternated, and trial sifts the believers (vv.137–143).
1. The Uḥud setting (vv.121–122). All sources place the verse at Uḥud and identify the two faltering parties as Banū Salama and Banū Ḥāritha, dissuaded by ʿAbd Allāh b. Ubayy but kept firm by God ("God was their protector"). [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] [tusi_al_tibyan] [bahrani_al_burhan] [qummi] al-Qummī and al-Burhān (and Ṭabarsī, citing the same al-Ṣādiq/ʿAlī b. Ibrāhīm account) give the full battle-narrative. [bahrani_al_burhan] [qummi] [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan]
2. Badr and the angels (vv.123–127). All read the reinforcement by three- then five-thousand "marked" angels at Badr, "only good tidings… victory is only from God," and the cutting-off of a flank of the disbelievers. [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] [tusi_al_tibyan]
3. Requital is God's (vv.128–129). All read "the matter is nothing of yours" as God's instruction to the wounded Prophet that the unbelievers' guidance and punishment are not his to decide, only the delivering of the message. [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] [tusi_al_tibyan]
4. Usury and the race to forgiveness (vv.130–136). All read the prohibition of usury, and the Garden "as wide as the heavens and earth" prepared for the God-fearing who spend, restrain rage and pardon, and who repent without persisting; Ṭabarsī and al-Burhān share the Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn forgiveness-report and the "no minor sin with persistence, no major sin with seeking-forgiveness" ḥadīth. [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] [tusi_al_tibyan] [bahrani_al_burhan] [qummi]
5. The Uḥud lessons (vv.137–143). All read "weaken not… you are the uppermost," the alternation of days, the taking of martyrs, and the sifting of the strivers. [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] [tusi_al_tibyan] [qummi]
1. ʿAlī's centrality at Uḥud. The narration-collections (al-Qummī, al-Burhān) — and Ṭabarsī, transmitting the same al-Ṣādiq report — make ʿAlī the hero of the day: bearing the standard, slaying the nine successive standard-bearers of Banū ʿAbd al-Dār and their freedman, shielding the Prophet until his sword broke and he received Dhū'l-Fiqār, taking ninety wounds, and being proclaimed from heaven "No sword but Dhū'l-Fiqār, no hero but ʿAlī," with Gabriel's "and I am from you both." [qummi] [bahrani_al_burhan] [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] The Enlightening Commentary recounts the battle didactically, without this emphasis. [enlightening_commentary]
2. "Few/weak" vs "abased" at Badr (v.123). al-Burhān and al-Qummī carry al-Ṣādiq's repeated correction — "they were not 'abased' (adhilla) while the Messenger was among them; it was sent down 'while you were few/weak (qalīl/ḍuʿafāʾ)' " — a variant-reading report; Ṭabarsī cites the same from "one of the truthful [Imams]." [bahrani_al_burhan] [qummi] [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan]
3. The occasion of v.128. Ṭabarsī and Ṭūsī canvass several occasions — the Prophet's broken tooth and bloodied face, his being minded to curse the disbelievers or the fleeing Muslims, or the Biʾr Maʿūna martyrs. [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] [tusi_al_tibyan]
4. The rationale of the usury-ban (v.130). Ṭabarsī cites al-Ṣādiq that usury is forbidden because it bars charity and lending without increase; both philologists read "obey the Messenger" (v.132) as a rebuke for the archers' disobedience. [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] [tusi_al_tibyan]
This is the Uḥud passage, and its narrative spine — the Prophet's deployment, the two clans steadied by God, the disobedience that turned victory to setback, and the theology of trial that follows (requital is God's; the days are alternated to sift the believers and take martyrs) — is held in common by all the present sources. The distinctive Imāmī contribution, carried by al-Qummī and al-Burhān and shared by Ṭabarsī through the same al-Ṣādiq/ʿAlī b. Ibrāhīm account, is the portrait of ʿAlī as the lone defender of the Prophet at Uḥud, crowned by the heavenly proclamation "No sword but Dhū'l-Fiqār, no hero but ʿAlī" and the mutual "I am from you both" — together with the variant-reading report that Badr's believers were "few/weak," not "abased." The philologists add the qirāʾāt and grammar (the angels "marked"; the parsing of v.128), the rationale of the usury-ban, and the rich ethical ḥadīth on generosity, restraining rage and pardon (the Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn report). The Enlightening Commentary supplies the didactic battle-account and the moral lessons. al-Mīzān is absent here by retrieval failure, not by silence of the source — a specialist consulting Ṭabāṭabāʾī's treatment of vv.121–143 should turn to a print edition or almizan.org directly. A reviewer should also note the variant-reading ("few/weak" for "abased") and the Imāmī battle-narrative as points to verify against the primary chains; al-Burhān's and al-Qummī's long Uḥud narratives were rendered representatively, and the qirāʾāt/grammar of Ṭabarsī and Ṭūsī for sense.