Overall meaning : The Almighty relates the story of those who fled their homes in their thousands for fear of death, either because of an epidemic that had broken out in their homeland or because of an enemy that had attacked them in their land, so Allah Almighty gave the command and they all died, contrary to their very intentions to escape death. Then he restored them to life after some time by His bounty and grace, for Allah, Exalted be He, is immensely bountiful to all people and shows His favours to all, but most of them do not reciprocate such bounty by giving the thanks He deserves.
Then He commands the believers to fight the enemies of religion in order for Allah’s religion to prevail and reign supreme, and reminds them that He hears what they say and is fully aware of their circumstances so they may be careful not to violate His commands.
He next urges them to spend on good causes, such as fighting in Allah’s cause, out of their lawful earnings in anticipation of divine reward and thereby seeking Allah’s good pleasure, assuring them that He will reward those who do so manifold again and again. To refute the unfounded assertion that spending causes poverty, Allah stresses that it is He who expands the provision of whomever He wills of His servants and withholds it from whomever He wills of them. Thus, they should spend without entertaining any fear whatsoever, for to Him will everyone be returned on the Day of Judgement, and He will repay everyone according to his deeds.
The Almighty then recounts a story from the history of the Children of Israel that took place after the death of Moses, peace be upon him. Their notable leaders assembled and asked one of their prophets to appoint a king for them under whose leadership they could unite and fight Allah’s enemies. Their prophet asked them if they would fulfil the promise they made to Allah to carry out the divine order to fight if Allah prescribed fighting for them. They replied that nothing would possibly prevent them from fighting for the cause of Allah now that they had been driven out of their homes and their children were taken captive. Yet, when Allah prescribed fighting for them, they did not fulfil their promise! In fact, they all refused to fight for the cause of Allah except for a small number of them. Allah Almighty knows full well who amongst them did wrong and went back on their promise, and He will surely repay them according to their wrongdoing.
Then their prophet informed them that Allah had granted them their request and appointed Saul (Talut, in Arabic) to be king over them. Because Saul was a mere commoner among them, who was not a descendant of any of the kings of the Children of Israel, they did not accept Allah’s appointment of him and objected, saying, ‘How should he reign over us, seeing that he is of lower honour than us and he is not in possession of abundant wealth that only a king would have?!’ Their prophet, peace be upon him, told them that it was Allah Himself who had chosen him to rule over them and made him stand out from them by endowing him abundantly with knowledge, a tall imposing stature and superior physical strength, adding that all sovereignty belongs to Allah alone, who gives it to whomever He wills, and that He, Glorified be He, is immensely bountiful and bestows upon whomever He wishes without distinguishing between prince and pauper, or rich and poor. He is All-Knowing—He knows all things including who is best suited for the position of king and who is not.
Their prophet further said to them that the sign of the divine endorsement of Saul’s kinship over them would be that he would restore to them the Ark of the Covenant that had been previously seized by their enemies, which would set their hearts at rest, containing such a remnant of what Moses and Aaron left behind, as would give them inner peace and tranquillity, borne by the angels, peace be upon them. ‘This,’ he said, ‘will surely be a sign for you of Allah’s appointment of Saul king over you if you truly believe in Allah and believe what I have told you.’
When they eventually submitted themselves to his authority as king over them when he brought them the Ark of Covenant, they joined him to fight against the enemy. After he set out with his forces to face the enemy, leaving their homeland behind, Saul informed them that Allah would put their faith and patience to the test at a certain river ahead of them which they would cross, thereby distinguishing the truthful from the liars and the patient from the impatient. Saul then declared that he would renounce any of them who would drink from it, threatening that they would not join his army and fight alongside him, but those who did not drink from it, or scooped a little in the hollow of their hands, would surely fight by his side. Most of them drank from it, and only those whom Allah made stand firm in their faith obeyed his order.
After Saul had crossed the river along with those who believed with him and had obeyed his order by not drinking from the river or having merely scooped up a little in their hands, some of them said, when they saw the huge number of enemy forces that were armed to the teeth and dwarfed their numbers, threatening to swallow the entire army, ‘We have no strength to face Goliath (Jalut, in Arabic) and his troops today.’ Thereupon those of them who firmly believed they would be returned to Allah reassuringly said, ‘Many a small force has defeated a much greater one by Allah’s permission! A large number will not benefit those whom Allah forsakes, nor will the small number of those whom Allah assists be harmed in any way. Allah is with those who steadfastly persevere.’
When the believers (Saul and his troops) came face to face with Goliath and his forces, the faithful called on their Lord to fill their hearts with steadfastness, make them stand firm and help them against the unbelievers. Sure enough, Allah answered their supplications, and the believers completely vanquished their enemy. Allah gave David the power to defeat Goliath and kill him, and He bestowed on him sovereignty and prophethood and taught him what He pleased. Were it not for Allah’s preventing the evil plans of the unbelievers and the wicked by means of the believers who fight for His cause, the earth would utterly be corrupted, but Allah is gracious and beneficent towards all His creation.
These verses, in which Allah Almighty tells the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, about what happened to past nations, testify to Allah’s oneness and provide evidence of right guidance. They provide true accounts relating what exactly took place and conform to the truth in the Divine Books that the scholars of the Children of Israel have and know. Allah Almighty stresses the truthfulness of the message with which He has sent Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, by mentioning the stories of past nations, which he would have never learnt about had Allah Almighty not have informed him about them. This clearly proves that he is truly Allah’s Prophet and Messenger.