Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: ((They think that the confederates have not gone away. And if the confederates come, they would wish that they were far away in the desert, asking about your news. And if they were with you, they would not fight except a little.))

means they suppose, and it takes two objects, the original of which is the subject and the predicate. The first object here is the phrase: and the second object is the clause meaning these hypocrites suppose that the confederates have not gone away. This indicates their cowardice, fear, and panic, because even after the confederates left and were dispersed, these hypocrites suppose that they have not gone away. Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: "

have not gone away

لَمْ يَذْهَبُوا

to Mecca out of fear of them.

And if the companies should come

وَإِنْ يَأْتِ الأَحْزَابُ

[Al-Ahzab 33:20]

a second time.

they would wish

يَوَدُّوا

they would wish.

they were in the desert among the bedouins

لَوْ أَنَّهُمْ بَادُونَ فِي الأَعْرَابِ

[Al-Ahzab 33:20]

meaning being in the desert.

asking about your news

يَسْأَلُونَ عَنْ أَنْبَائِكُمْ

your news with the disbelievers." His saying: this is on the way of hypothesis and estimation. And his saying: is the plural of hizb (party), and they are the groups that formed a party against the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) from Quraysh, Ghatafan, Asad, and others. If these confederates came again, these hypocrites would wish the badi is the one who resides in the desert. From this is the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and badi is a noun of the doer, and its meaning is the resident of the desert. So these would wish that they were badun in the desert, meaning residing in the desert. Why do they wish that they are residing in the desert? For the sake of escaping from these confederates. And his saying: is a circumstantial clause from the subject in his saying: meaning these hypocrites wish that they are in the desert asking about your news and not participating with you in the fighting. Have you grasped the meaning now? So Allah the Exalted and Sublime made clear the panic of these hypocrites from two aspects:
The first aspect: that they suppose that the confederates are still remaining, even though the confederates have withdrawn.
Second: that if it were assumed that the confederates returned, they would wish that they were in the desert, not subject to skirmishes or fighting, but only asking about your news. So we say that the clause is a clause in the position of the accusative as a circumstantial clause from the subject of
Allah the Exalted said: This second time is out of showing off and fear of being blamed, meaning this is conditional, and its answer here is accompanied by And when the conditional law is accompanied by the majority is that the answer is not accompanied by the lam. Why? Because ma is for negation and the lam is for emphasis, and the combination of a letter indicating emphasis and a letter indicating negation contains something of contradiction and conflict. So you say, "If Zayd came, I would not speak to him," and you do not say, "If Zayd came, I would not speak to him," may Allah have mercy on you. But if its answer is affirmative, the majority is that it is accompanied by the lam. You say, "If Zayd came, I would speak to you," in the majority of cases, and it is permissible to say, "If Zayd came, I would speak to him." Allah the Exalted said in Surat al-Waqi'ah: [al-Waqi'ah: 65] It has been accompanied by the lam. [al-Waqi'ah: 70] As for ma, as you saw now, it is not accompanied by the lam, but it may be accompanied by the lam slightly. From this is the saying of the poet:
"And if we were given the choice, we would not have parted, but there is no choice with the nights."
The evidence is his saying, "we would not have parted." Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: here means except in the sense of non-existence, or it is on its apparent meaning that they fight, but a little fighting. This is the closest, because the original is to keep the speech on its apparent meaning unless there is evidence that its apparent meaning is not intended. So if these were with us when the confederates came, you would find them, out of their cowardice, not fighting except a little. And the author interpreted this little as being for the sake of showing off and fear of being incited, meaning they show off to people that they are fighting in the path of Allah, and they fear the blame of people for them. So they do not fight so that the word of Allah is the highest. And this is one of the most important things, I mean the sincerity of a person's worship to Allah the Exalted and Sublime. This is one of the most important things and one of the strongest treatments for the soul, because the apparent deeds, everyone can make them as good as possible, is that not so? Everyone can stand up and pray with a slow recitation, and bow with a slow bowing, and prostrate with a slow prostration, and stand with a slow standing, and sit with a slow sitting. But rectifying the heart is the difficult one. And for this, the rectification of the heart is a cause for the rectification of the body, and not the reverse, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: So these hypocrites do not have a true desire for the fighting by which they want one of the two good things, either martyrdom or victory and happiness. No, but they fight out of showing off and fear of being blamed only, not for Allah. And whoever has this intention, he will not fight the fighting that should be. He will be lukewarm, unlike the person with the sincere intention for Allah the Exalted and Sublime. Rather, he will have a strong motive that drives him to work with what he sees as obedience to Allah the Exalted and Sublime.