According to Taberî, this verse is Allah's call to His servants to show patience and obedience through prayer, to fulfill His obligatory duties, and to submit to rulings that have been changed through abrogation. Patience means enduring the slander of enemies, physical hardship, or loss of wealth; prayer means seeking refuge in Allah to achieve one's wishes. Allah's being 'with' those who are patient means He is their helper, supporter, and pleased with their actions.

فإن تأويله: فإن الله ناصره وظهيره وراض بفعله، كقول القائل: افعل يا فلان كذا وأنا معك، يعني إني ناصرك على فعلك ذلك ومعينك عليه

According to Râzî, attention is drawn to the grammatical parsing of the word 'sâbirîn' in this verse: according to some, it is in the accusative case for praise (with the meaning of 'aègni es-sâbirîn'), and according to others, it is in the genitive case as a substitute from 'ellezîne'. It is then noted that Allah mentions five attributes here; the first of these is patience, which means bearing hardship in performing obligatory and supererogatory acts, abandoning the forbidden, and remaining patient in calamities that befall, not complaining while being spiritually content with Allah. It is stated that the rank of patience precedes the rank of faithfulness in additional acts of worship that the servant undertakes of his own accord, which is why Allah mentions 'sâbirîn' first.

نصب على المدح بتقدير : أعني الصابرين ، وقيل : الصابرين في موضع جر على البدل من الذين

According to Kurtubî, the expression of patience in this verse has been interpreted primarily as abstaining from sins and desires (carnal appetites); as an alternative view, it has been noted that some interpret this as persevering in obedience (acts of worship).

يعني عن المعاصي والشهوات وقيل : على الطاعات

According to Ibn Kesîr, this expression carries a meaning of praise and encouragement toward patience due to the difficulty and severity of patience. The servant's fulfillment of his duties (acts of obedience) and staying away from the forbidden fall within the scope of this patience. In this context, a hadith is cited regarding how the Prophet, when faced with a situation that troubled him, turned to prayer.

وفي الحديث كان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم إذا حزبه أمر صلى أخرجه أبو داود

According to Beydâvî, patience in the verse means fleeing from disobedience and the desires of the self, while prayer refers to supplication, which is the mother of acts of worship and the ladder of the believers. The statement that martyrs are not dead but alive points to the fact that their life is not of a type involving the body and perceptible vitality, but rather a state known through revelation rather than reason. According to this view, the verse was revealed concerning the martyrs of Badr, and it is evidence that souls are separate substances standing on their own and perceive things even after death; the majority of the Companions and successors hold this view on this matter.

وهو تنبيه على أن حياتهم ليست بالجسد ولا من جنس ما يحس به من الحيوانات، وإنما هي أمر لا يدرك بالعقل بل بالوحي