Tafsir of An-Nisa' 4:72

"(And indeed, among you is he who lingers [ layubatti'anna ])" meaning: he who is lethargic and lags behind in [participating in] Jihad. [It is derived] from bata'a, in the sense of abta'a (to delay), similar to 'atama in the sense of a'tama (to become late). The address is to the army of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him—both the believers and the hypocrites among them—and those who linger are the hypocrites among them.

It has been suggested that the word may be transposed in both wording and meaning from batu'a, similar to thaqula from thaqula (to be heavy); thus, it would mean he makes others linger and discourages them from Jihad, just as Ibn Ubayy discouraged some people on the day of Uhud. This is more appropriate to what follows.

The first lam is the lam of emphasis, which enters upon the predicate of inna or its subject if it is delayed. The second is the response to an oath. It has also been said that it is superfluous. The clause of the oath and its response are the relative clause for the mawṣūl (the pronoun "who"), and they are treated as a single entity; thus, it cannot be objected that there is no pronoun linking the oath clause [to the antecedent], just as it cannot be objected that it is an "initiatory" (inshā’iyyah) expression and therefore cannot serve as a relative clause, because the intended meaning is the response, which is informative and contains a returning pronoun. There is no need to assume "I swear" in the past tense so that its pronoun might refer back to the lingerer, as that is contrary to what is apparent.

It is also permissible for man (who) to be descriptive, and the discussion regarding the description is the same as the discussion regarding the relative clause. It has been said that this sentence is a conjunction to "Take your precautions," a conjunction of one narrative to another. It has also been said that it is a parenthetical clause extending to His saying—Exalted is He—"So let them fight," which is a conjunction to "Take [your precautions]." It has also been recited as layubatti'anna with a light ta'.

"(Then if a disaster strikes you)" from the enemy, such as killing or defeat, "(he says)"—meaning the lingerer, rejoicing in what he has done and praising his own judgment—"([Allah] has bestowed favor upon me)" by [allowing me] to stay behind, "(in that I was not among them a witness)"—meaning, present with them in the battle, so that there would befall me the likes of the affliction and hardship that befell them.

It has been said that it is possible the meaning is "in that I was not with their martyrs a witness," or "I was not with them in the arena of martyrdom." The "favor" here is survival from being killed, and he expressed his fear of it by using the term "martyrdom" as a form of sarcasm; the remoteness of this [interpretation] is not hidden.

The fa in the conditional clause is for the sequencing of its content upon what precedes it; for the mention of lingering necessitates the mention of what results from it, just as the lingering itself implies something the lingerer expects to happen.