The lesson that teaches victory in the big matter is not considered as a defeat in the small matter, what happened is a small matter, but this lesson teaches the permanent victory.

وَلاَ تَلْوُونَ عَلَى أحَدٍ {without looking aside at anyone}: Because you were afraid and hurry.

وَالرَّسُولُ يَدْعُوكُمْ فِي أُخْرَاكُمْ {while the Messenger was calling you from behind}: The Prophet (saws) calmed them down and called back those who fled during the Battle of Uhud.

فَأَثَابَكُمْ غُمَّاً بِغَمٍّ {So Allah repaid you with distress upon distress}: look at the mercy and kindness of Allah (swt) with the believers that He considers the distress as repay, They, in addition to the grief of defeat that occurred there, they were repaid with another grief that some of them were martyrs, and there was also grief that they had violated the orders of the Prophet (saws), Imam Ali (may Allah honor his face) was asked: “O Commander of the Faithful, what are the mightiest soldiers of Allah? He said:

“Ten, first of all the mountains, but the most powerful of them is iron. Because iron cuts mountains, and more intense than iron is fire. Because fire melts iron, and water is more powerful than fire. Because water puts out fire, and more powerful than water is wind. Because the wind removes the water, and the one who is stronger than the wind is the son of Adam; Because he can hide from the wind, and worse than a person is drunkenness, which is the absence of the mind, and what is more severe than it is the worry that does not let the person sleep.”

So distress and worry are the strongest soldiers of Allah (swt) over man, so there are people who die from distress.

فَأَثَابَكُمْ غُمَّاً بِغَمٍّ{So Allah repaid you with distress upon distress}: This grief was like an atonement for what they had done, and this grief was severe for them, it is the grief that they had violated the command of the Prophet (saws).

لِّكَيْلاَ تَحْزَنُواْ عَلَى مَا فَاتَكُمْ وَلاَ مَا أَصَابَكُمْ{so you would not grieve for that which had escaped you [of victory and spoils of war] or [for] that which had befallen you [of injury and death]}: The man lives in a world of changes, and is subject to all kinds of trials; such as the loss of his loved ones, or is afflicted with disease, or suffers from poverty and so on. He always thinks that Allah (swt) has made his predestination with his kindness.