His saying, exalted and glorified is He:

"Say, 'The fleeing will not benefit you if you flee from death or killing, and then you will not be enjoyed except for a little.'" "Say, 'Who is it that can protect you from Allah if He intends for you harm or intends for you mercy?' And they will not find for themselves besides Allah any protector or helper." "Indeed, Allah knows the hinderers among you and those who say to their brothers, 'Come to us,' and they do not come to the battle except for a little.'"

Allah, the Exalted, commanded His Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, in this verse to address them with reprimand. He informed them that fleeing will not save them from destiny, for they will not be enjoyed in those lands. Rather, their lifespans will be cut short in a brief period. The little that is excepted refers to the duration of their lifetimes, as said by Al-Rabi' ibn Khuthaym. Then He made them aware that they will not find a protector from Allah to whom they can turn for support. A group read, "They will be enjoyed" with a 'ya,' and another group read, "You will be enjoyed" with a 'ta' addressing them directly.

Then He reprimanded them that Allah knows the hinderers, who are those that prevent people from supporting the Messenger and stop them with words and actions from doing so. They strive against those who support him. And you say, "I was hindered by such and such a matter," and "I was hindered" if I exaggerated and weakened the action.

As for those who say, the people have differed regarding their condition. Ibn Zayd and others said: He meant the hypocrites. The hypocrite says to his brothers in kinship and relation: "Come to us," meaning to the homes, food, drink, and to abandon fighting. It has been reported that a group of them did that. It has been narrated that a man from the believers returned to his home and found his hypocritical brother before him with a loaf of bread, roasted meat, and wine. He said to him: "Are you sitting like this while the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, is in battle?" His brother said to him: "Come to what I am in, O so-and-so, and leave me alone with Muhammad, for by Allah, he has perished, and he has no power against his enemies." His brother cursed him and said: "By Allah, I will inform the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him," and he went to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and found that the verse had been revealed.

And a group said: Rather, he meant those who were among the hypocrites who would mingle with the disbelievers of Quraysh among the Arabs, for indeed, there were some of them who would mingle with them and said to them: "Come to us," meaning to Medina, for you will overcome Muhammad. The brothers, according to this, are in disbelief and in the false doctrine.

And "Come" means: approach. Among the Arabs, some use it uniformly for masculine and feminine, singular and plural. This is based on it being a verbal noun. This is the language of the people of Hijaz. Among them are those who treat it as a verb and attach it to different pronouns, saying: "Come," and "Come all of you." The origin of "Come" is "halmum," the movement of the 'm' was transferred to the 'l' so that the 'a' was omitted, and the 'm' was assimilated into the 'm' due to its being silent, thus it came as "Come." This is similar to the explanation of: "Return" from "ardud."

And 'al-baas' means: fighting. And 'except a little' means: except for a little coming. Its little amount may be due to the shortness of its duration and the fewness of its times. It may also be due to the little punishment of it, and that it is mere show and embellishment without any reality.