(15) “Those who stayed behind will say when you set out to take spoils, ‘Let us follow you.’ They wish to change the word of Allah. Say, ‘You will never follow us. Thus did Allah say before.’ Then they will say, ‘Rather, you envy us.’ But in fact, they understand very little.”

After Allah Most High mentioned and condemned those who stayed behind, He explained that part of their worldly punishment was that, when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and his Companions set out to take spoils for which no fighting was required, they would ask to accompany them and share in the spoils, saying, “Let us follow you.” By doing so, “they wish to change the word of Allah,” for He had decreed their punishment and reserved those spoils for the believing Companions, both by religious ruling and providential decree. “Say” to them, “You will never follow us. Thus did Allah say before”: you are deprived of these spoils because of what you brought upon yourselves and because you refrained from fighting the first time.

“Then they will say,” in response to the words by which they were barred from setting out, “Rather, you envy us” over the spoils. This is the extent of their understanding in this matter. Had they understood what was for their own good, they would have known that they were deprived because of their disobedience and that acts of disobedience incur punishments both in this world and in matters of religion. Hence He said, “But in fact, they understand very little.”