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155
إِنَّ الَّذينَ تَوَلَّوا مِنكُم يَومَ التَقَى الجَمعانِ إِنَّمَا استَزَلَّهُمُ الشَّيطانُ بِبَعضِ ما كَسَبوا ۖ وَلَقَد عَفَا اللَّهُ عَنهُم ۗ إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفورٌ حَليمٌ

Muhammad Asad

Behold, as for those of you who turned away [from their duty] on the day when the two hosts met in battle - Satan caused them to stumble only by means of something that they [themselves] had done.1 But now God has effaced this sin of theirs: verily, God is much-forgiving, forbearing.
  • This is an illustration of a significant Qur'anic doctrine, which can be thus summarized: "Satan's influence" on man is not the primary cause of sin but its first consequence: that is to say, a consequence of a person's own attitude of mind which in moments of moral crisis induces him to choose the easier, and seemingly more pleasant, of the alternatives open to him, and thus to become guilty of a sin, whether by commission or omission. Thus, God's "causing" a person to commit a sin is conditional upon the existence, in the individual concerned, of an attitude of mind which makes him prone to commit such a sin: which, in its turn, presupposes man's free will - that is, the ability to make, within cerrtain limitations, a conscious choice between two or more possible courses of action.