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wa-la-qad ṣadaqakumu llāhu waʿdahū ʾidh taḥussūnahum bi-ʾidhnihī ḥattā ʾidhā fashiltum wa-tanāzaʿtum fī l-ʾamri wa-ʿaṣaytum min baʿdi mā ʾarākum mā tuḥibbūna minkum man yurīdu d-dunyā wa-minkum man yurīdu l-ʾākhirata thumma ṣarafakum ʿanhum li-yabtaliyakum wa-la-qad ʿafā ʿankum wa-llāhu dhū faḍlin ʿalā l-muʾminīna
Allah certainly fulfilled His promise to you when you were slaying them with His leave, until you lost courage, disputed about the matter, and disobeyed after He showed you what you loved. Some among you desire this world, and some among you desire the Hereafter. Then He turned you away from them so that He might test you. Certainly He has excused you, for Allah is gracious to the faithful.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah 'Ali-Imran, Verse 152
152. "And indeed Allah fulfilled His promise to you (in the first stage) when, with His leave, you slew them until when you became weak-hearted and disputed about the matter, and you disobeyed after that He showed you that which you loved. Some of you desire the world and some of you desire the Hereafter. Then He turned you away from them (the disbelievers) so He might try you. And He has certainly forgiven you; and Allah is gracious to the believers."
A Failure after Triumph
In the explanation of the Battle of 'Uhud, it was said that at the beginning of the war, Muslims fought unitedly and with a special bravery so that they won the battle. But disobedience of a group of the strivers, who left their entrenchments and went to gather spoils of war, caused the circumstances to be changed and the troops of Islam bore a great failure. When Muslim strivers, who had suffered to give many slain and a heavy loss, were returning to Medina, they were murmuring questions with each other as that: 'Had Allah not promised us the victory of the war? Then, why we were defeated in this war?
So, in these verses, the Qur'an, answering them, explains the factors of their failure. This verse indicates that the promise of Allah about their triumph was completely right. Therefore, at the beginning of fight they won the battle; and, by the command of Allah, they killed the enemies. The Qur'an tells them that this promise went on until the time they had not left the perseverance and following the command of the Prophet (S). The failure began from the time weakness and disobedience came upon them.
That is, if you considered that the promise of victory had been without any condition, you made a great mistake. All the promises of victory are conditioned to the obedience from the command of Allah. Then, the Qur'an says:
Then, it continues saying:
Here, the circumstances have changed and Allah has altered your victory to failure in order to try you and punish you and train you.
Then the Lord forgave you all these disobediences and sins of yours, while you deserved to be punished. This is because Allah does not withhold any bounty to the believers.