They are the ones who disbelieved and barred you from the Sacred Mosque that is barred you from reaching it and prevented the offering wa’l-hadya is a supplement to the suffixed pronoun –kum ‘you’ of saddūkum ‘they barred you’ which was detained ma‘kūfan is a circumstantial qualifier from reaching its destination that is from the place at which it is customarily sacrificed namely the Sanctuary itself an yablugha mahillahu is an inclusive substitution. And were it not for some of the believing men and believing women being present at Mecca alongside the disbelievers whom you did not know to be believers — lest you should trample them that is to say lest you should slay them together with the disbelievers had you been given permission to embark on the conquest an tata’ūhum is an inclusive substitution for –hum ‘them’ of lam ta‘lamūhum ‘whom you did not know’ and thus incur sin on account of them without your knowing it … the third person pronouns in both groups of people predominantly imply males; the response to lawlā ‘were it not’ has been omitted through ellipsis being something along the lines of la-udhina lakum fī’l-fathi ‘you would have been permitted to embark on the conquest’ but permission for this was not given at the time so that God may admit into His mercy whom He will such as those believers mentioned. Had they been clearly separated had they the believers been distinguishable from the disbelievers We would have surely chastised the disbelievers among them of the people of Mecca immediately thereat by permitting you to go ahead with the conquest thereof with a painful chastisement.
