[His saying, the Exalted: "Then He requited you with grief upon grief"]

[The first interpretation]

4345 - Muhammad ibn Sa'd al-'Awfi informed us in what he wrote to me, my father narrated to me, my uncle al-Husayn narrated to me, from his father, from his grandfather, from Ibn 'Abbas regarding His saying: "Then He requited you with grief upon grief," he said: What afflicted you only afflicted you because you disobeyed me. While they were in that state, the people came upon them having despaired, and they had drawn their swords; so there was the grief of defeat and their grief when they came upon them.

4346 - Al-Hasan ibn Ahmad narrated to us, Musa ibn Muhkam narrated to us, Abu Bakr al-Hanafi narrated to us, 'Abbad ibn Mansur narrated to us, from al-Hasan regarding His saying: "Then He requited you with grief upon grief," he said: Grief, by Allah, intense upon intense grief; there is not a human among them but that his soul was in distress.

And the second interpretation:

4347 - Hajjaj ibn Hamzah narrated to us, Shababah narrated to us, Warqa' narrated to us, from Ibn Abi Najih, from Mujahid, regarding His saying: "Then He requited you with grief upon grief," a flight after the first flight when they heard the cry that Muhammad had been killed. The disbelievers returned and struck them from behind until they killed seventy men of them. Then they retreated to the Prophet, and they began to climb up the mountain while the Messenger was calling to them from their rear.

And the third interpretation:

4348 - Al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Rabi' narrated to us, 'Abd al-Razzaq informed us, Ma'mar informed us, from Qatadah regarding "grief upon grief," he said: The first grief was the wounds and the killing. The other grief was when they heard that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, had been killed; and the latter grief made them forget what had afflicted them of wounds and killing, and what they had hoped for of spoils.

And the fourth interpretation:

4349 - Ahmad ibn 'Uthman ibn Hakim narrated to us, Ahmad ibn Mufaddal narrated to us, Asbat narrated to us, from al-Suddi, he said: Then he mentioned Abu Sufyan's looking over them, and he said: "Then He requited you with grief upon grief"; as for the first grief, it was what you missed of the spoils and the victory, and the second grief was the enemy looking over you.

And the fifth interpretation:

4350 - Muhammad ibn al-'Abbas narrated to us, Zunayj narrated to us, Salamah narrated to us, Muhammad ibn Ishaq said:

"Then He requited you with grief upon grief," meaning: distress upon distress; those who were killed of your brothers were killed, and your enemy was superior over you, and what fell into your souls from the saying of those who said: "Your Prophet has been killed," and that was among what followed one another upon you as grief upon grief.