His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "The left behind rejoiced in their sitting contrary to the Messenger of Allah, and they disliked to strive with their wealth and their selves in the cause of Allah. And they said, 'Do not march forth in the heat.' Say, 'The fire of Hell is much hotter if they only understood.'" "So let them laugh a little and let them weep a lot as a recompense for what they used to earn." "And if Allah returns you to a party of them and they ask your permission to go out, say, 'You will never go out with me and you will never fight an enemy with me. You were satisfied with sitting the first time, so sit with those who remain behind.'" This verse contains a description of their state in terms of reproach against them, and within it is a warning. His saying, "the left behind" is a term that implies their humiliation and that they are those whom Allah has distanced from His pleasure. This is more appropriate than to say, "the ones who stayed behind." Only a hypocrite rejoiced, and from that are the three and those with excuses. And "sitting" is a noun meaning to remain seated. An example of this is: "Whoever is pleased with the killing of Malik..." And His saying, "contrary to" means: after. Abu Ubaidah recited in this regard: "The spring followed them as if it spread the shores between them with a mat." He means: after them. From this is the poet's saying: "So say to the one who remains after the one who has passed, prepare for another like it as if he has..." Al-Tabari said: It is the noun form of 'khalafa' (to oppose). Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: Based on this, it is a noun of purpose, and the meaning is: The left behind rejoiced in their sitting for opposing the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, or it is a noun, and its accusative in the first saying is as if it is in the context of place. Their dislike for what has been mentioned is a form of stinginess since they do not believe in the reward in the cause of Allah. They think of the worldly life. And their saying, "Do not march forth in the heat" was because the Battle of Tabuk occurred at a time of intense heat and the ripening of fruits and the shade. This was said by Ibn Abbas, Ka'b ibn Malik, and the people. They were confronted with the argument that it was said to them: If you are distressed by the heat of the summer, then the fire of Hell, which is much more intense, is more deserving of your distress if you understood. Ibn Abbas and Abu Haywah recited: "behind," and Ya'qub mentioned it but did not attribute it. It was also recited: "khalf" with a damma on the khā'. And what strengthens Al-Tabari's statement that "the term 'khalaf' is a noun from 'khalafa'" is that the narrations have agreed that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, commanded them to march forth, but they disobeyed and opposed and remained asking for permission. Muhammad ibn Ka'b said: A man from Banu Salamah said, "Do not march forth in the heat." Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: A man said, "O Messenger of Allah, the heat is severe, so do not march forth in the heat." Al-Naqqash said: And in the reading of Abdullah: "They know" instead of "they understand."

Ibn Abbas, Abu Razin, Al-Rabi' ibn Khuthaym, Qatadah, and Ibn Zayd said: His saying: ﴿So let them laugh a little﴾ is an indication of the duration of life in this world. And His saying: ﴿And let them weep much﴾ is an indication of the permanence of eternity in the Fire. Thus, He came with the wording of command, and its meaning is news about their condition. It is possible that it may describe their state, meaning: they are in danger with Allah, and their condition is such that their laughter should be little and their weeping much because of that. This necessitates that the time for laughter and weeping in this world is in accordance with His ﷺ saying to his Ummah: "If you knew what I know, you would weep much and laugh little." It has been narrated that when the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said this, Allah revealed to him: "O Muhammad, do not despair My servants."

And His saying: "As a recompense" is related to the meaning which is estimated: let them weep much since they are being punished as a recompense. And His saying: "They earn" is a clear text that earning is what is related to reward and punishment.

And His saying, the Exalted: ﴿If Allah returns you to a group of them﴾, the verse, "returns" is equal to its surpassing. And His saying, the Exalted: "If" clarifies that the Prophet ﷺ does not know the future of his matter regarding time and otherwise. It is also possible that they may die before his return. And Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, commanded His Prophet ﷺ to say to them: ﴿You will not go out with me﴾, which is a punishment for them and a manifestation of the lowliness of their status and their bad condition. This is the intended meaning in the story of Thalabah ibn Hatib, which was mentioned earlier regarding his refusal to accept his charity. There is no greater disgrace than for a person to be rejected by the Shari'ah and turned away like a mangy camel.

And His saying: ﴿To a group﴾ implies to me that the intended meaning is their leaders and those who are followed. And upon it, the emphasis is that they will not go out nor fight an enemy. He repeated the meaning of fighting the enemy because it is the greatest form of jihad and the place of the gleaming swords beneath which is Paradise. And if it were not for the specification of the group, the wording would have been: "If Allah returns you to them." It seems that this group has been determined to meet in hypocrisy and has been specified for the Prophet ﷺ. Otherwise, how could it be that he does not pray for their dead if Allah did not specify them? And His saying: ﴿And they died while they were evildoers﴾ [At-Tawbah: 84] is a clear text regarding their meeting. And among what supports this is what has been narrated that the Prophet ﷺ specified them to Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman, and the Companions, when they saw Hudhayfah delaying from praying over the funeral of a man, they too delayed from it. And it has been narrated from Hudhayfah that he once said: "So many of the hypocrites remain," and Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, said to him: "I beseech you by Allah, am I one of them?" He said: "No, and by Allah, I do not feel secure from it for anyone after you."

And the majority of the people read: "with me" with the ya being silent in both places. And Asim read - as Al-Mufaddal said - "with me" with the ya being pronounced in both places. And His saying: "first" is in addition to the time of seeking permission.

And the 'khalifoon': all those who lag behind from women, children, and those excused. The masculine form is predominant, thus it is gathered with the 'yaa' and 'noon', even though there are women present. This is a conflicting plural.

And Qatadah said: the 'khalifoon' refers to women, and this is rejected. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: they are the men. And Al-Tabari said: his saying: "with the khalifoon" could mean: with the corrupt ones, and this is taken from: 'khalafa ash-shay' when it becomes corrupt, and from it: 'khuluf' of the fasting person's mouth.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And this is a forced interpretation, and the first is clearer and more in line with the wording. Malik ibn Dinar and Ikrimah read: "with the khalifin", which is a shortened form of "khalifoon", just as he said: "'aridan wa baridan" meaning: 'arid and barid, and just as another said: like the dust, its coldness is the shade.