Those of the Bedouins who were left behind around Medina — that is to say those whom God made to stay behind and not to accompany you when you had asked them to set out with you for Mecca fearing that Quraysh would attack you upon your return in the year of al-Hudaybiyya — will say to you ‘Our possessions and our families kept us occupied preventing us from going forth with you. So ask forgiveness for us!’ of God for our failure to go forth with you. God exalted be He exposes their mendacity by saying They say with their tongues that is to say in asking forgiveness and in the preceding statement of theirs what is not in their hearts and so they are lying in the excuse which they give. Say ‘Who can an interrogative meant rhetorically as a negation that is to say ‘none can’ avail you anything against God should He desire to cause you harm read darran or durran or desire to bring you benefit? Nay but God is ever Aware of what you do in other words He is ever possessed of such an attribute.
