143وَلَقَد كُنتُم تَمَنَّونَ المَوتَ مِن قَبلِ أَن تَلقَوهُ فَقَد رَأَيتُموهُ وَأَنتُم تَنظُرونَMuhammad AsadFor, indeed, you did long for death [in God's cause] before you came face to face with it; and now you have seen it with your own eyes!1In Zamakhshari's opinion, this is a twofold reproach addressed to the majority of the Companions who took part in the battle of Uhud: firstly, on account of their insistence, against the Prophet's advice, on giving battle to the enemy in the open field and thereby unnecessarily courting a deadly danger; and, secondly, on account of their failure to live up to their faith during the earlier part of the battle (see note 90 above). This passage may have yet another, more positive implication: namely, a reference to the lesson which the believers should draw from their near-defeat, and a reminder of the fact that their future depends on the strength of their faith in God (cf. verse 139 above) and not on a fleeting desire for self-sacrifice.