“That bounty is from Allah, and Allah suffices as the All-Knowing. O believers, take your precautions, then march forth in separate companies or march forth all together. Indeed, there are among you those who linger behind; then, if a calamity befalls you, they say, ‘Allah has certainly favored me, since I was not present with them.’”
“That bounty is from Allah, and Allah suffices as the All-Knowing”: that is, He knows the reward of the Hereafter. It was also said: He knows (1) those who obey the Messenger of Allah and love him. This demonstrates that they will not attain that rank through their obedience alone; rather, they attain it only through Allah’s bounty.
Ahmad ibn Abd Allah al-Salihi informed us: Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn al-Hasan al-Hiri informed us; Hajib ibn Ahmad al-Tusi informed us; Abd al-Rahim ibn Munib informed us; Ya‘la ibn Ubayd informed us, from al-A‘mash, from Abu Salih, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Strive to do what is right and keep close to the mark, and know that none of you will be saved by his deeds.” They said, “Not even you, O Messenger of Allah?” He said, “Not even I, unless Allah envelops me in mercy and bounty from Him.” (2)
His saying, Exalted is He: “O believers, take your precautions,” against your enemy—that is, take your provisions and weapons. The two words meaning precaution are synonymous, just as the two forms for “likeness” and the two forms for “resemblance” are synonymous. “Then march forth”: go out “in separate companies,” that is, in scattered detachments, one expedition after another. Such companies are groups that go out separately; the singular is a company. “Or march forth all together,” that is, assembled, all of you with the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him.
His saying, Exalted is He: “Indeed, there are among you those who linger behind”: this was revealed concerning the hypocrites (3) 90/b. He says “among you” because they share with the believers a common stock, lineage, and outward profession of Islam, though not the reality of faith. “Those who linger behind” means: those who hold back and are reluctant to engage in jihad. This refers to Abd Allah ibn Ubayy, the hypocrite. The letter in “will surely linger behind” is the particle of oath. Delaying means holding back from a matter. One says, “What has delayed you?” meaning, “What has kept you back from us?” The verb may be used in the sense of delaying or of causing delay. “Then, if a calamity befalls you,” that is, killing or defeat, “they say, ‘Allah has certainly favored me,’” by allowing me to remain behind, “‘since I was not present with them,’” that is, present in that campaign, and thus afflicted by what afflicted them.