لَيْسَ لَكَ مِنَ ٱلْأَمْرِ شَىْءٌ أَوْ يَتُوبَ عَلَيْهِمْ أَوْ يُعَذِّبَهُمْ فَإِنَّهُمْ ظَٰلِمُونَ
Commentary:
This verse is erroneously supposed to contain a sort of admonition or warning to the Holy Prophet for his having prayed to God for the destruction of the Meccans. There is no mention of any such prayer here, nor was there any occasion for such a prayer. In fact, a Prophet never prays for the destruction of any people without the permission of God.
The words are meant only as an answer to those who attributed the reverse of the Muslims at Uhud to the alleged error of their leaving the city against the advice of experienced men. The Quran says that the result was brought about by the supreme wisdom of God and that the Holy Prophet had nothing to do with the matter. One good result of this reverse was that many were guided to acceptance of Islam, seeing how God helped the Holy Prophet and how He afforded him protection although he was left alone in the battle.
The verse also contains a reply to the hypocrites. ‘Abdullah bin Ubayy and his followers, who had deserted the Holy Prophet at Uhud, saying he had not followed their advice. It tells them that it was God Who was helping the Prophet, and Who, even after the reverse at Uhud, had fulfilled His promise regarding the ignominious retreat of the Meccans referred to in the preceding verse.
The words, that He might cut off a part of the disbelievers, and, or abase them, occurring in the preceding verse correspond to the words He may turn to them in mercy, and, or punish them, occurring in the present verse in the reverse order, the suggestion being that the part that will be cut off will be those who are to be punished by God, while those whom God will temporarily abase and who will return unsuccessful will be those to whom God is finally to turn in mercy; i.e. by returning safe, though unsuccessful, they will be afforded an opportunity to repent. Accordingly, we find that many of those who escaped alive were after-wards converted to Islam, and among them were men like Khalid, son of Walid; ‘Ikrimah, son of Abu Jahl; ‘Abdur-Rahman, son of Abu Bakr, and many others who later made a name in the history of Islam. Abu Sufyan, Commander of the Meccan army, was also among them.
The verse also throws light on the general nature of prophecies made by the Prophets of God. There is often an element of contingency or uncertainty in them; sometimes it is hidden and sometimes expressed as in the present verse. A clear alter-native is put forward here in the form of mercy and punishment to be shown according to the will of God. The reason for this is that prophecies do not proceed from a mechanical or rigid source which is arbitrary and inflexible, but from God, Who possesses both the quality of mercy and the power to punish, which He exercises, according as circumstances demand. In keeping with this principle, the Prophets of God hold out the hope of salvation on condition of genuine repentance, even when they utter unqualified predictions about the doom of their enemies.
This verse is erroneously considered to contain an admonition to the Holy Prophet for his having prayed to God to destroy the Meccans. There is no mention of any such prayer here, nor was there any occasion for such a one. In fact, a Prophet never prays for the destruction of any people without the permission of God. The verse is meant only as an answer to those who attributed the reverse of Muslims at Uhud to the alleged error of their leaving the city against the advice of experienced men. It says that the temporary reverse was brought about by the supreme wisdom of God and that the Holy Prophet had nothing to do with the matter. One good result of this reverse was that many disbelievers were guided to Islam, among them being the famous Khalid. They saw how God had helped the Holy Prophet in the hour of distress and how He had afforded him protection although, at one time, he was left all by himself in the battle.