The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 644
CH. 33 AL-AḤZĀB PT. 21 هُنَالِكَ ابْتِلَى الْمُؤْمِنُوْنَ وَل There and then were the L. 12 وَزُلْزِلُوا زِلْزَالًا شَدِيدًا believers sorely tried, "and they were shaken with a violent shaking. وَإِذْ يَقُولُ الْمُنْفِقُونَ وَالَّذِيْنَ فِي And when the hypocrites. 13 and those in whose hearts was a قُلُوبِهِمْ مَّرَضٌ مَّا وَعَدَنَا اللهُ وَرَسُولُةٌ disease said, Allah and His إِلَّا غُرُورًا Messenger promised us nothing but a delusion. ' وَإِذْ قَالَتْ ظَابِفَةٌ مِّنْهُمْ يَاهْلَ يَثْرِبَ لَا And when a party of them. 14 said, 'O people of Yathrib, you مُقَامَ لَكُمْ فَارْجِعُوْا ۚ وَيَسْتَأْذِنُ فَرِيقٌ have possibly no stand against the enemy, therefore turn back. ' I مِنْهُمُ النَّبِى يَقُولُونَ إِنَّ بُيُوتَنَا عَوْرَةٌ And a section of them even asked leave of the Prophet, وَمَا هِيَ بِعَوْرَةٍ إِنْ تُرِيدُونَ إِلَّا فِرَارًا saying, “Our houses are exposed and defenceless. ' And they were in truth not exposed. They only sought to flee away. 3084 "8:18. 8:50. is derived from They say يثرب weak of faith among the Muslims. V. 13 makes it quite clear that the reference in the above words is only to these two. 3084. Important Words: i. e. he rebuked or reproached him and showed him to be foul; he stripped him of his garment (Aqrab). مدينة النبي which now is known as) يثرب عور exposed) is derived from) عورة and means, part between the navel and knee, pudenda; every part of the body which a person covers; defenceless or exposed; disgrace; any place of concealment; a cleft or fissure in a mountain; a woman; a time in which it is not proper for a woman to appear in public, as at or before day-break, nightfall, and mid- day; vice; weakness; blindness of one eye (Lane & Aqrab). See also 24:32. i. e. the City of the Prophet) was so called perhaps because the place was malaria-stricken or because the Medinites being cultivators and looked down upon by the warlike having been given to farming were 2558 Arabs. See also 12:93. Commentary: The reference in the word ab (party) is to the hypocrites of Medina. Weakness of faith causes hypocrisy and vice versa.