Tafsir of Al-Fath 48:11

"The laggards among the Bedouins will say to you" (Mujahid and others said, and the words of some have entered into others). The laggards among the Bedouins are Juhaynah, Muzaynah, Ghifar, Ashja’, ad-Dil, and Aslam. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) mobilized them when he intended to travel to Makkah in the year of al-Hudaybiyah to perform the Umrah, so that they might go out with him, fearing that the Quraysh might confront him with war or block him from the House. He (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) entered into Ihram and drove the sacrificial animals with him to show that he did not intend war. Those Bedouins saw that he (peace and blessings be upon him) was facing a great number from Quraysh, Thaqif, Kinanah, and the tribes neighboring Makkah, who were the Ahabish. Faith had not yet taken hold in their hearts, so they sat back from the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and lagged behind. They said, "We are going to a people who have raided him in the heart of his home in Madinah and killed his companions, so we shall fight them." They also said, "Muhammad and his companions will not return from this journey." Allah the Exalted exposed them in this verse and informed His Messenger (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) of their words and their excuses before he reached them, and so it was.

"Al-Mukhallafun" (the laggards) is the plural of "mukhallaf." Al-Tabarsi said: It is the one left behind in a place after those who went out from the town have departed. It is taken from "al-khalf" (behind), and its opposite is "al-maqdum" (the one who goes forward). "Al-A'rab" (the Bedouins), according to the well-known opinion, are the inhabitants of the desert among the Arabs; there is no singular form for it. That is: The ones who are left behind and did not go out with you will say to you, offering excuses: "Our wealth and our families occupied us" (from going with you), since we had no one to guard them and protect them from being lost. Perhaps the mention of the families after the wealth is by way of progression (taraqqi), because protecting the family, for those possessed of honor, is more important than protecting wealth. Ibrahim ibn Nuh ibn Bazan recited "shaghalatna" (occupied us) with a shaddah on the ghayn to denote frequency. "Ask forgiveness for us" from Allah the Exalted, so that He may forgive our lagging behind you, since it was not out of laziness in obeying you, but because of that necessity.

"They say with their tongues what is not in their hearts." That is, their speech from the tip of their tongues does not correspond to what is in their hearts, and this is a metonymy for their lying. The sentence is an inauguration to give the lie to them, and its being a substitute for "will say" is not apparent. The lie refers to what their speech contained: the report about their lagging behind being due to a pressing necessity—namely, tending to their interests that could not be neglected and the lack of anyone to attend to them if they had gone with him (peace and blessings be upon him). It also refers to what is contained in "Ask forgiveness for us," which is an act of petition implying their admission that they are sinners and that his (peace and blessings be upon him) supplication for them would provide them with a necessary benefit. Or, naming that a lie is not because it fails to correspond to the belief—as al-Nazzam argued—but because it fails to correspond to the reality according to the belief; there is a difference between the two matters.

"Say, 'Then who can avail you anything against Allah if He intends harm for you or intends benefit for you?'" He (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was commanded to respond to them with this when they offered those falsehoods as excuses. "Milk" (power/avail) is holding onto something with force, because it implies control (dabt), which is preservation through firmness. From this is: "I do not have control over the head of the camel," and "I have 'milk' (controlled) when I have tightened its knot," and "I have 'milk' (possessed) a thing when it has come fully under your control." When you say, "I do not possess (la amliku)," it is a negation of the ability and power to hold and prevent. So the basic meaning here is: "Who can keep away from you anything of Allah's decree if He intends for you, etc.?" The lam in "lakum" (for you) is either for clarification or connected to the verb because this ability is specific to them, for their sake. "Min Allah" (against Allah) is a circumstantial qualifier (hal) for the indefinite object, meaning "something," which was moved to the front. Explaining "milk" as "prevention" is an elucidation of the meaning, for if no one can hold back or push away, then they cannot prevent. This is not to say that it is a metaphor or that it incorporates that meaning; rather, the lam is extra, as in "radafa lakum" (it has overtaken you), and "min" is connected to "yamliku" as has been said. What is meant by "harm" and "benefit" is that which harms and that which benefits, so they are two verbal nouns meant to signify the result of the action, or they are interpreted as adjectives.

Hamzah and al-Kisa'i recited "durran" with a damma on the dad, which is a dialectal variation. The essence of the verse's meaning is: Say to them, since no one can push away His harm or His benefit, then being occupied with family and wealth is no excuse. Neither does that [wealth] ward off harm if He (the Exalted and Majestic) intends it, nor does hindering the enemy prevent the benefit if He intends benefit for you. This is a comprehensive statement in response, which contains a slight allusion to others among the falsifiers and to the exalted station of the truthful ones. Then He, glorified be He, proceeded to what contains a threat by His saying: "Rather, Allah is ever, of what you do, Acquainted." That is, of everything you do, He is fully aware.