﴿ أَمْ نَجْعَلُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِ كَٱلْمُفْسِدِينَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ أَمْ نَجْعَلُ ٱلْمُتَّقِينَ كَٱلْفُجَّارِ ﴾

“[For,] would We treat those who have attained to faith and do righteous deeds in the same manner as [We shall treat] those who spread corruption on earth? Would We treat the God-conscious in the same manner as the wicked?”

(Shall We treat those who believe) in Muhammad (pbuh) and in the Qur'an (and do good works) and perform acts of obedience between themselves and their Lord; the reference here is to 'Ali Ibn Abi Talib, Hamzah Ibn 'Abd al-Muttalib and 'Ubaydah Ibn al-Harth (as those who spread corruption) as the idolaters (in the earth) i.e. 'Utbah and Shaybah the sons of Rabi'ah, and al-Walid Ibn 'Utbah; (or shall We treat the Pious) who ward off disbelief, idolatry and indecent acts, i.e. 'Ali and his two fellow believers (as the wicked) as the disbelievers: 'Utbah and Shaybah the sons of Rabi'ah, and al-Walid Ibn 'Utbah? Each one of these three had, on the Day of Badr, a dual with 'Ali, Hamzah and 'Ubaydah, respectively; 'Ali killed al-Walid Ibn 'Utbah, Hamzah killed 'Utbah Ibn Rabi'ah and 'Ubaydah killed Shaybah.