أَوْ يَأْخُذَهُمْ عَلَىٰ تَخَوُّفٍ فَإِنَّ رَبَّكُمْ لَرَءُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ
Important Words:
تخوف (process of gradual destruction) is derived from خاف which means, he feared, he was afraid.تخوفه means, he took by little and little from it or from its sides or he took from its extremities. They say تخوفنا السنة i.e. the year of drought took from us by little and little. تخوفنا حقی means, he diminished to me by little and little my right or due. The Quranic expression او یاخذھم علی تخوفmeans, or are they secure from His destroying them by causing them to suffer loss (by little and little) in their bodies and their possessions or cattle, and their fruits, etc.? (Lane).
Commentary:
The verse mentions another form of the punishment that would overtake the disbelievers of Mecca, viz. the tribes and territories which formerly owed allegiance to them would gradually break off their alliance with them and would join Muslims. This happened immediately before the conquest of Mecca.
The verse may also mean that even before their final overthrow, the Meccans would be seized with a consuming fear of the growing power of Islam and its ultimate triumph. This fear of the fast-increasing power of Muslims unnerved disbelievers and led to loss of the will to resist on their part which eventually brought about their complete downfall.
Mention of the Divine attributes of "Compassionate" and "Merciful," after referring to different forms of punishment that were to overtake disbelievers looks rather strange. The fact that the verse refers to Divine punishments which overtook disbelievers gradually and in stages, thus affording them many opportunities to save themselves by accepting Islam justifies the placing of the words "Compassionate" and "Merciful" at its end. Or the expression, Your Lord is indeed Compassionate, Merciful, may apply to Muslims, suggesting that whereas God was punishing disbelievers for their rejecting His Prophet, He was Compassionate and Merciful to Muslims because they had accepted him.
Takhawwuf meaning "to take little by little" (Lane), the verse signifies that the power of disbelievers will gradually decline, or that before their final overthrow they would be seized with a consuming fear of the growing power of Islam and its ultimate triumph.