Translation
Do not lose heart or grieve—you will always prevail, if you are true believers. If you feel that a misfortune has affected you [e.g., not winning the Battle of Uhud], a similar misfortune has touched your adversaries as well—it is by bringing this type of alteration of fate and fortune to people that God becomes aware of those who have demonstrated faith and establishes evidences for such faith. God certainly does not love the evildoers [though He may give them good fortune for a time]. He cleanses those who have faith pure of any evils [by such misfortune] and eventually destroys the works of those who deny the truth.207
Do you think that you will be rewarded with Paradise while God has not seen who among you strove hard for just cause and persevered with patience? You thought it was easy to face difficulty and death in His cause, and now you have seen it with your own eyes before you!208
Interpretation
207. Muslims in the early days, like the followers of Moses and the disciples of Jesus, suffered hardships in their lives and in their faith and faced waves of terror and attempts to annihilate them from the face of the earth. Their lives were made utterly difficult, and their confidence in themselves and their faith in God were seriously tested. But we all know from history that people of faith and goodwill prevailed over time in each of these instances due to their reliance on God and their persistent love for good works and doing good to others.
Such a turn of events continues in our own times as we have seen during the Holocaust in Germany against Jews, terror by the Japanese in China and Korea, deaths of millions during cultural revolutions in China and the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, indiscriminate killings of innocent civilians during and after the Vietnam War, large-scale massacre of innocent civilians in Cambodia, the Iranian Revolution against the Shah of Iran and his oppression, ethnic cleansing against Muslims in Bosnia, denial of rights to Palestinians, the occupation of Afghanistan by Russia, the rise of terrorism by the terrorists and the nation states, continued threats against people in Arab Spring, and so on.
Violence against innocent citizens has become ever prevalent in our world today—in forms of political torture and curtailing of political freedom in many countries, religiously inspired violence against minorities, secretive collaboration among nations in creating secret punishment cells, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction among nations and terrorists, the rise of drug abuse and gang fights, random violence by people who are unable to cope with the stress and temptations of our current environment and lifestyle, domestic violence, especially against women and the slave trade of women around the world for sexual exploits, exploitation of natural resources by businesses and national leaders without sharing the benefits equitably with citizens, our collective failure to harness energy without polluting the planet, and so forth. These are some of the examples that we all can relate to.
208. On the face of this large-scale onslaught against the human condition, one should listen to the word of God that such adversity offers opportunities for us to rise up and act with faith and patience to better the human condition and to prove to God and our fellow human beings our commitment to truth, peace, and God. In our recent memories, people like Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Ayatollah Khomeini, Nelson Mandela, Mohammed Yunus, and an untold number of local leaders and heroes throughout the world are rising up to erase colonialism, slavery, apartheid, human exploits and exploits of women, political tyranny, and economic disparity.
REFLECTION
These few verses codify one of most fundamental aspects of the human condition on this planet—the continued rise of evil forces through every generation, offering proving grounds for people of faith and goodwill to rise, persevere, and demonstrate our allegiance to truth and to God. In the face of such adversity, there is assurance from God that if we struggle with truth, faith, patience, and persistence, the victory will always be ours, even though there may be temporary setbacks. Through this process, God will recognize and establish facts about our own condition and capacity for success in this world and reward in the afterlife.
ACTION
The call to action is very clear. It is time to reflect, prioritize, formulate strategy and tactics, gain facts and knowledge, build capacity, and act on issues that you feel passionately about. We need to come together to face larger issues, but we have to orient and commit ourselves individually first.