And if two parties of believers in tā’ifatāni mina’l-mu’minīna... to the end of the verse was revealed regarding a particular incident where the Prophet s was riding a donkey and happened to pass by Ibn Ubayy; the donkey urinated and so Ibn Ubayy held his nose whereupon ‘Abd Allāh Ibn Rawāhā said ‘By God the smell of the donkey’s urine is sweeter-smelling than your musk. Fighting then ensued between the two clans with fists sandals and palm branches being thrown about fall to fighting iqtatalū the plural is used on account of the plural import for each party is made up of several individuals; a variant reading has the dual form iqtatalatā make peace between them baynahumā the dual here takes into account the actual dual form of tā’ifatān ‘two parties’. And if one of them aggresses against the other fight the one which aggresses until it returns to God’s ordinance to the truth. Then if it returns reconcile them fairly and act justly. Surely God loves the just.
