Tafseer of The Clans · Al-Ahzaab · 33:20
They think the companies have not [yet] withdrawn. And if the companies should come [again], they would wish they were in the desert among the bedouins, inquiring [from afar] about your news. And if they should be among you, they would not fight except for a little.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The statement concerning the interpretation of the words of the Exalted: يَحْسَبُونَ الأَحْزَابَ لَمْ يَذْهَبُوا وَإِنْ يَأْتِ الأحْزَابُ يَوَدُّوا لَوْ أَنَّهُمْ بَادُونَ فِي الأعْرَابِ يَسْأَلُونَ عَنْ أَنْبَائِكُمْ وَلَوْ كَانُوا فِيكُمْ مَا قَاتَلُوا إِلا قَلِيلا ("They think that the confederates have not withdrawn; and if the confederates should come, they would wish that they were among the bedouins in the desert, asking for news about you; and had they been among you, they would have fought only a little") (20).
The Exalted, whose mention is high, says: these hypocrites (munāfiqūn) think that the confederates (al-aḥzāb) — and they are Quraysh and Ghaṭafān.
As Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, he said: Yazīd ibn Rūmān related to me: يَحْسَبُونَ الأحْزَابَ لَمْ يَذْهَبُوا ("they think that the confederates have not withdrawn"): Quraysh and Ghaṭafān.
And His statement: لَمْ يَذْهَبُوا ("have not withdrawn"). He says: they have not departed — although they had indeed departed, out of cowardice and panic on their part.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the scholars of interpretation have spoken.
* Mention of those who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning his statement: يَحْسَبُونَ الأحْزَابَ لَمْ يَذْهَبُوا ("they think that the confederates have not withdrawn"), he said: they think that they are nearby.
And it was mentioned that in the reading of ʿAbd Allāh (Ibn Masʿūd) it stands: يَحْسَبُونَ الأحْزَابَ قَدْ ذَهَبُوا فإذَا وَجَدُوهُمْ لَمْ يَذْهَبُوا وَدُّوا لَوْ أنَّهُمْ بادُونَ فِي الأعْرَابِ ("they think that the confederates have already withdrawn, and when they find that they have not withdrawn, they wish that they were among the bedouins in the desert").
And His statement: وَإِنْ يَأْتِ الأحْزَابُ يَوَدُّوا لَوْ أَنَّهُمْ بَادُونَ فِي الأعْرَابِ ("and if the confederates should come, they would wish that they were among the bedouins in the desert"). The Exalted, whose mention is high, says: and if the confederates should come to the believers — and that is the faction; its singular is ḥizb — يَوَدُّوا ("they would wish"). He says: out of fear and cowardice they would wish that they were absent from you, in the desert, among the bedouins (aʿrāb), out of dread of death. And that is because His statement لَوْ أنَّهُمْ بادُونَ فِي الأعْرَابِ ("that they were in the desert among the bedouins"): one says "so-and-so has gone out to the desert" (badā fulān) when he has come to the desert (badw), so he resides there (yabdū), and he is a desert-dweller (bādin). As for the aʿrāb: that is the plural of aʿrābī, and the singular of al-ʿarab is ʿarabī. One says aʿrābī only for the dwellers of the desert, as a distinction between the dwellers of the deserts and those of the towns; so they made aʿrāb for the dwellers of the desert, and ʿarab for the dwellers of the town.
And His statement: يَسألُونَ عَنْ أنْبائِكُمْ ("asking for news about you"). He says: these hypocrites, O believers, ask people for news about you — that is: for your tidings, in the desert: has Muḥammad perished, and his companions? We say: they wish to learn news of your destruction, so that they need not be present with you at your battlefields. وَلَوْ كانُوا فِيكُمْ ما قاتَلُوا إلا قَلِيلا ("and had they been among you, they would have fought only a little"). The Exalted, whose mention is high, says to the believers: and had they too been among you, they would not have benefited you, and they would have fought the polytheists (mushrikīn) only a little. He says: only as an excuse, for they do not fight them for the sake of the reward with Allah, nor in hope of recompense.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the scholars of interpretation have spoken.
* Mention of those who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning his statement: يَسألونَ عَنْ أنْبائِكُمْ ("they ask for news about you"), he said: your tidings. And the reciters of the towns have all read, except for ʿĀṣim al-Jaḥdarī: يَسألونَ عَنْ أنْبائِكُمْ ("they ask for news about you"), with the meaning: they ask whoever of the people comes to them for the news of your encampment and your tidings. And it was mentioned concerning ʿĀṣim al-Jaḥdarī that he read it as يَسّاءَلونَ (yassāʾalūna), with doubling of the sīn, with the meaning: they ask one another — that is: the one asks the other about it.
And the correct view concerning this, according to us, is that upon which the reciters of the towns stand, because of the consensus of the proof among the reciters concerning it.
