( لَئِنْ… ) (if): The first letter “Lam” in the Arabic word indicates that there is a dropped affirming oath meaning “By Allah, if”. When an oath and a conditional clause are combined in a single expression, then one response will suffice for both. And whichever precedes the other, its response satisfies the response of the other.
( … أَذَقْنَا… ) (We give man a taste): The place of taste is the mouth, this means that a person eats something to realize its taste, whether it is sweet, bitter, sour, or alkaline. “taste” here refers to a perception, and is related to a blessing. When Allah (swt) wants to take away a blessing from a person, he becomes afflicted with anxiety, sadness, panic, and despair.
( … الْإِنسَانَ… ) (man): Encompasses all the descendants of Adam (PBUH) without exception, but elsewhere Allah (swt) mentions “man”, and excludes the believers, saying:
وَالْعَصْرِ (1) إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لَفِي خُسْرٍ (2) إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالْحَقِّ وَتَوَاصَوْا بِالصَّبْرِ
(By time, (1) Indeed, mankind is in loss, (2) Except for those who have believed and done righteous deeds and advised each other to truth and advised each other to patience (3)) (Al-Asr)
( … ثُمَّ نَزَعْنَاهَا مِنْهُ… ) (and then We withdraw it from him): “withdraw” indicates that a person is keen on what Allah (swt) has given him of goodness, health, well-being, and ease, and when a blessing is taken away from him, he resists. So, this word denotes that the person is strongly holding the thing that is taken from him.
( … إِنَّهُ لَيَئُوسٌ كَفُورٌ… ) (indeed, he is despairing and ungrateful): despair means cutting off hope that something will happen. This is because a person does not have full control on everything, and if he did, he would not despair. On the other side, the believer never despairs, as Allah (swt) says:
إِنَّهُ لَا يَيْأَسُ مِن رَّوْحِ اللَّهِ إِلَّا الْقَوْمُ الْكَافِرُونَ
(no one despairs of relief from Allah except the disbelieving people ) (Yusuf: 87)
Thus, despair means to cut off hope from a matter that you desire because you do not have the means to achieve it. The one who despairs is the person who does not seek help in Allah (swt), as Allah is the Wise and Mighty Support. So, when a believer loses something, he says: “Indeed, Allah (swt) will compensate me with something better.” But as for the one who has no faith, he says: “This is a coincidence and may not happen again.”