Tafsir for verse: 8:16
وَمَن يُوَلِّهِمۡ يَوۡمَئِذٖ دُبُرَهُۥٓ إِلَّا مُتَحَرِّفٗا لِّقِتَالٍ أَوۡ مُتَحَيِّزًا إِلَىٰ فِئَةٖ فَقَدۡ بَآءَ بِغَضَبٖ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ وَمَأۡوَىٰهُ جَهَنَّمُۖ وَبِئۡسَ ٱلۡمَصِيرُ ١٦ ﴿16
16Whoever turns his back to them on such a day,- unless it is for a tactic in the battle, or to join a company,-turns with wrath from Allah, and his abode is Jahannam (Hell), and it is an evil place to return.
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Commentary

And whoever turns away from them. When fighting predominantly occurs during the day, and turning away is not something that can be measured by the circumstance since its time does not extend, disobedience occurs merely by turning away with the intention of fleeing. Continuing is a repetition of similar actions. There is no condition for the correctness of the naming. He expressed it by saying 'the day' and stripped it of 'in' as a call to return after fleeing without any confusion. For the circumstance cannot be a criterion for the action unless the time is extended, like fasting. He said: 'On that day,' meaning: when you meet in this condition at any time of the fighting, whether it is at night or during the day. 'His back' means: he turns his back to them for some reason, making it a turning away, not wanting to face the fight from it. 'Except' means: in the case of him being 'in a state of maneuvering' or the state of maneuvering, which is the shifting away from the direction of equality. 'For fighting' means: he does not make it easy for himself except by that, making it appear to his enemy that he is retreating, deceiving him, then he charges at him. 'Or maneuvering' means: moving from one area to another and distancing himself. 'To a group' means: another group from his party who are worthy of him returning to them for assistance or to assist them.

And since this is the place where the listener expects the answer and clears his mind for it, he responded by linking it with 'so' to inform that the action being discussed is a cause for this punishment. He said: 'So indeed he has returned' meaning: he has returned 'with anger from Allah,' meaning: possessing all attributes of perfection. 'And his abode is Hell,' meaning: it scowls at him just as he feared the scowling of the disbelievers and the meeting of the frowning faces with a scowling, gloomy face. 'And wretched is the destination.' This is if the disbelievers do not exceed weakness - as the text will come with it.

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