Tafseer of The Exile · Al-Hashr · 59:14
They will not fight you all except within fortified cities or from behind walls. Their violence among themselves is severe. You think they are together, but their hearts are diverse. That is because they are a people who do not reason.
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.
And His statement: لا يُقَاتِلُونَكُمْ جَمِيعًا إِلا فِي قُرًى مُحَصَّنَةٍ ("They will not fight you all together except from fortified towns"). The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: these Jews of the Banū al-Naḍīr fight you only together from towns fortified with fortifications; they do not come out openly into the open field against you. أَوْ مِنْ وَرَاءِ جُدُرٍ ("or from behind walls"). He says: or from behind enclosures.
The Qurʾān reciters differed over the reading of this. Most of the reciters of Kūfa and Medina read it: أَوْ مِنْ وَرَاءِ جُدُرٍ ("or from behind walls") in the plural, with the meaning of "the enclosures." And some of the reciters of Mecca and Basra read it: مِنْ وَرَاءِ جِدَارٍ in the singular, with the meaning of "the wall."
* And the correct judgment concerning this is, in my opinion, that they are two well-known readings, both correct in meaning; with whichever of the two the reciter recites, he has acted correctly.
And His statement: بَأْسُهُمْ بَيْنَهُمْ شَدِيدٌ ("their hostility among themselves is severe"). The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: the hostility of some of these unbelievers among the Jews toward others is severe. تَحْسَبُهُمْ جَمِيعًا ("you suppose them to be united") — He means the hypocrites and the People of the Book. He says: you suppose them to be in agreement and that their word is united. وَقُلُوبُهُمْ شَتَّى ("but their hearts are divided"). He says: and their hearts are divided because of the hostility of some of them toward others.
And His statement: ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَوْمٌ لا يَعْقِلُونَ ("that is because they are a people who do not understand"). The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: this which I have described to you concerning the condition of these Jews and the hypocrites — namely, the division of their desires and the hostility of some of them toward others — is because they are a people who do not understand what constitutes benefit for them and what constitutes loss and detriment for them.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his statement: لا يُقَاتِلُونَكُمْ جَمِيعًا إِلا فِي قُرًى مُحَصَّنَةٍ أَوْ مِنْ وَرَاءِ جُدُرٍ بَأْسُهُمْ بَيْنَهُمْ شَدِيدٌ تَحْسَبُهُمْ جَمِيعًا وَقُلُوبُهُمْ شَتَّى ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَوْمٌ لا يَعْقِلُونَ ("They will not fight you all together except from fortified towns or from behind walls; their hostility among themselves is severe; you suppose them to be united, but their hearts are divided; that is because they are a people who do not understand"). He said: you find the people of falsehood with differing testimony, differing desires, differing deeds, while they are united in hostility toward the people of the truth.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning his statement: تَحْسَبُهُمْ جَمِيعًا وَقُلُوبُهُمْ شَتَّى ("you suppose them to be united, but their hearts are divided"). He said: the hypocrites — their religion differs from the religion of al-Naḍīr.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid: تَحْسَبُهُمْ جَمِيعًا وَقُلُوبُهُمْ شَتَّى ("you suppose them to be united, but their hearts are divided"). He said: they are the hypocrites and the People of the Book.
He said: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, something similar.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Khuṣayf, on the authority of Mujāhid: تَحْسَبُهُمْ جَمِيعًا وَقُلُوبُهُمْ شَتَّى ("you suppose them to be united, but their hearts are divided"). He said: the polytheists (mushrikīn) and the People of the Book.
And it has been mentioned that in the reading of ʿAbd Allāh it reads: وقلوبهم أشتُّ with the meaning of: more divided, that is to say: more severely divergent.
