SURAH AL-E-IMRAN: 137-143

TRANSLATION:

[3:137]
Many patterns of behavior have passed before you. So, traverse the land and see what was the fate of those who rejected (the prophets).
[3:138]
This is a declaration for mankind, and guidance, and a lesson for the God-fearing.
[3:139]
Do not lose heart and do not grieve, and you are the upper-most if you are believers. {45}
[3:140]
If you have received a wound, they have received a similar wound. {46} Such days We rotate among the people, so that Allah may know those who believe and let some of you be martyrs — and Allah does not like the unjust
[3:141]
— and so that Allah may purify those who believe and eradicate the disbelievers.
[3:142]
Do you think that you shall enter Paradise even before Allah knows those of you who carry out Jihad and those who are steadfast.
[3:143]
You had longed for death before you faced it. {47} Now, you have seen it with your eyes wide open. 

INTERPRETATION:

{45} In brief, in the battle of Uhud in the beginning Muslims defeated the non-Muslims aggressors, and the non-Muslims began to retreat. Before the battle began, the Holy Prophet ﷺ had positioned a group of fifty archers on a hillock behind the battlefield so that the enemy could not attack from behind. When the enemy retreated and the battlefield became empty then the Holy Companions started collecting the spoils of war left behind by the enemy. When the archers saw that the enemy had retreated they believed that their duty was done and now they should also participate in gathering the war spoils. Their leader Hazrat Abdullah ibn Jubair RAA and a few other companions forbade them from leaving the hillock and reminded them that the Holy Prophet ﷺ had ordered them not to leave that post under any circumstances. But the majority of the archers felt it was pointless to stay there any longer and left their post. When the enemy army saw that the hillock was empty and Muslims were preoccupied with collecting the spoils of war they attacked that position. Hazrat Abdullah ibn Jubair RAA and his few remaining companions tried to defend their position as much as they could but they were too few and all of them were martyred. The enemy army descended from that hillock and attacked the unsuspecting Muslims from the rear. This attack was so unexpected that that Muslims began to retreat. At that time, someone spread the rumour that the Holy Prophet ﷺ had been martyred. This rumour caused a lot of Muslims to lose their heart. Some left the battlefield and some left fighting and just stood to the side. However, a group of the Holy Companions who were really dedicated to the Holy Prophet ﷺ surrounded him and kept fighting the enemy. The onslaught by the non-believers was so strong that the Holy Prophet ﷺ lost one of his teeth and his face became bloody. When the Holy Companions found out that the rumour was false and that the Holy Prophet ﷺ was alive they regained their resolve and re-joined the fighting and the enemy had to retreat. However, in that time about seventy Holy Companions had lost their lives. This whole incident caused Muslims a lot of distress and heartbreak. In these verses, Quran Karim is consoling them that these are ups and downs of life and they should not feel hopeless as a result of these events. It is also pointing out that this defeat was a result of some mistakes and that they should learn lessons from those mistakes. 

{46} This is a reference to the battle of Badar in which seventy leaders of the non-believers had been killed, and a further seventy had been captured.

{47} When the Muslims who had not been able to participate in the battle of Badar heard the merits of those Muslims martyred in the battle of Badar, they used to express the desire that they also wanted to achieve martyrdom.