Say to those of the Bedouins mentioned who were left behind to test them ‘You shall be called against a people possessed of great might — these are said to have been the tribe of Banū Hanīfa the inhabitants of the region of al-Yamāma; but it is also said that these were the Persians and the Byzantines — you shall fight them tuqātilūnahum is a circumstancial qualifier referring to an implied future situation which constitutes that to which the ‘call’ will be made; or they will submit so that you will not have to fight. So if you obey the command to fight them God will give you a good reward; but if you turn away like you turned away before He will chastise you with a painful chastisement’.
