Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Ahzab Verse 13

Mufti Taqi Usmani

and when a group of them said, “O people of Yathrib (Madīnah), there is no place for you to stay; so go back.”And a group of them was seeking permission (to leave) from the prophet, saying, “In fact our homes are vulnerable,” while they were not vulnerable; they wanted nothing but to escape.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

And ˹remember˺ when a group of them said, “O people of Yathrib![[ Yathrib was the name of Medina before the arrival of the Prophet (ﷺ) and Muslim emigrants. ]] There is no point in you staying ˹here˺, so retreat!” Another group of them asked the Prophet’s permission ˹to leave˺, saying, “Our homes are vulnerable,” while ˹in fact˺ they were not vulnerable. They only wished to flee.

Ruwwad Translation Center

And [remember] when a group of them said, “O people of Yathrib, you cannot withstand [the enemy attack], so go back.” Another group of them asked the Prophet’s permission to leave, saying, “Our homes are exposed,” even though they were not exposed; they only wanted to flee.

A. J. Arberry

And when a party of them said, 'O people of Yathrib, there is no abiding here for you, therefore return!' And a part of them Were asking leave of the Prophet, saying, 'Our houses are exposed'; yet they were not exposed; they desired only to flee.

Abdul Haleem

Some of them said, ‘People of Yathrib, you will not be able to withstand [the attack], so go back!’ Some of them asked the Prophet’s permission to leave, saying, ‘Our houses are exposed,’ even though they were not- they just wanted to run away:

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And when a party of them said: O inhabitants of Yathrib! there is no place for you, so return. And a part of them asked leave of the Prophet, saying: verily our houses lie open; whereas they lay not open; they only wished to flee.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Behold! A party among them said; "Ye men of Yathrib! ye cannot stand (the attack)! therefore go back!" And a band of them ask for leave of the Prophet, saying, "Truly our houses are bare and exposed," though they were not exposed they intended nothing but to run away.

Abul Ala Maududi

And when a section of them said: “(O people of Yathrib), now there is no place for you to stay, so turn back.” (And call to mind) when a section of them was seeking permission from the Prophet to leave, saying: “Our houses are exposed (to attack),” although they were not exposed (to attack); they only wished to flee (from the battle-front).

Ahmed Ali

When a section of them said: "O people of Yathrib, there is no place for you here, turn back;" and a section of them asked leave of the Prophet, saying: "Our homes lie exposed," -- while they were not exposed. Their only intention was to run away.

Ahmed Raza Khan

And when a group among said, “O people of Medinah! This is no place of stay for you, therefore go back to your homes”; and a group among them sought exemption from the Prophet by saying, “Our homes are unprotected” whereas their homes were not unprotected; they willed nothing except to flee.

Ali Quli Qarai

And when a group of them said, ‘O people of Yathrib! [This is] not a place for you, so go back!’ A group of them sought the Prophet’s permission [to leave the scene of battle], saying, ‘Our homes lie exposed [to the enemy],’ although they were not exposed. They only sought to flee.

Ali Ünal

And when a group among them said: "O people of Yathrib! You cannot withstand the enemy (here), therefore go back (to your homes)." And a party among them asked for leave of the Prophet, saying, "Surely our houses are exposed (to attack)," though they were not exposed (indeed). They desired nothing but to flee.

Amatul Rahman Omar

And (recall) when a party of them (also) said, `O people of Yathrib (- Madînah)! you can put up no stand (in the face of the enemy); you had better go back (to your homes or your old faith to save your lives). And a section of them asked the Prophet for leave saying, `Surely, our homes are lying exposed (to danger) whereas they were not actually lying exposed, but they only sought to flee (from the battlefield).

English Literal

And when a group of people from them said: "You people (of) Yethrib , (there is) no position/status for you, so return." And a group/party from them ask the prophet for permission/pardon (E) they say: "That truly our houses/homes (are) weakly defended ." And it is not with weakly defended , that truly they want except escape .

Faridul Haque

And when a group among said, “O people of Medinah! This is no place of stay for you, therefore go back to your homes”; and a group among them sought exemption from the Prophet by saying, “Our homes are unprotected” whereas their homes were not unprotected; they willed nothing except to flee.

Hamid S. Aziz

And when the hypocrites and those in whose heart was a disease began to say, "Allah and His Apostle did not promise us nothing but delusion."

Hilali & Khan

And when a party of them said: "O people of Yathrib (AlMadinah)! There is no stand (possible) for you (against the enemy attack!) Therefore go back!" And a band of them ask for permission of the Prophet (SAW) saying: "Truly, our homes lie open (to the enemy)." And they lay not open. They but wished to flee.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And when a party of them said: O people of Yathrib, you cannot make a stand, so go back. And a party of them asked permission of the Prophet, saying, Our houses are exposed. And they were not exposed. They only desired to run away.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And when a party of them said: O people of Yasrib! there is no place to stand for you (here), therefore go back; and a party of them asked permission of the prophet, saying. Surely our houses are exposed; and they were not exposed; they only desired to fly away.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And when a party of them said: O folk of Yathrib! There is no stand (possible) for you, therefor turn back. And certain of them (even) sought permission of the Prophet, saying: Our homes lie open (to the enemy). And they lay not open. They but wished to flee.

Muhammad Sarwar

It was there that a group of them said, "People of Yathrib, turn back for there is no place for you to stay." Another group, asking for the Prophet's permission, said, "Our homes are defenseless." In fact, they were not defenseless. They only wanted to run away.

Qaribullah & Darwish

And when a party of them said: 'People of Yathrib (Madinah), there is no place for you here, therefore return' And a party of them asked leave of theProphet, saying: 'Our houses are exposed' whereas they were not, they only wished to flee.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And when a party of them said: "O people of Yathrib! There is no postition for you. Therefore go back!" And a band of them ask for permission of the Prophet saying: "Truly, our homes lie open." And they lay not open. They but wished to flee.

Wahiduddin Khan

Others said, "People of Yathrib, you cannot withstand [the enemy] here: so go back!" Yet others asked leave of the Prophet, saying, "Our houses are exposed and [defenceless]." They were in truth not exposed: they only wished to flee.

Talal Itani

And when a group of them said, “O people of Yathrib, you cannot make a stand, so retreat.” And a faction of them asked the Prophet to excuse them, saying, “Our homes are exposed,” although they were not exposed. They only wanted to flee.

Tafsir jalalayn

And when a party of them, namely, the hypocrites, said, `O people of Yathrib!, namely, the region of Medina (it [Yathriba] is a diptote because of its being a proper noun and because of the [morphological similarity it bears to a] verbal form) there is not a stand [possible] (read muqm or maqm) for you [here], in other words, no place to stay and no [strategic] position, so turn back, to your dwellings in Medina -- they had set out with the Prophet (s) towards the foot of a mountain outside Medina for battle. And a group of them [even] sought the permission of the Prophet, to turn back, saying, `Our homes are exposed, unprotected and we fear for them'. God, exalted be He, says; although they were not exposed. They only sought to flee, from battle.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

وَإِذْ قَالَت طَّايِفَةٌ مِّنْهُمْ يَا أَهْلَ يَثْرِبَ

And when a party of them said;"O people of Yathrib..."

meaning Al-Madinah, as it was reported in the Sahih;

أُرِيتُ فِي الْمَنَامِ دَارَ هِجْرَتِكُمْ أَرْضٌ بَيْنَ حَرَّتَيْنِ فَذَهَبَ وَهَلِي أَنَّهَا هَجَرُ فَإِذَا هِيَ يَثْرِب

I was shown in a dream the place to which you will migrate, a land between two lava fields. At first I thought it was Hajar, but it turned out to be Yathrib.

According to another narration;
الْمَدِينَة
(Al-Madinah).

It was said that the origin of its name Yathrib was that a man settled there from (the people of) Al-Amaliq whose name was Yathrib bin Ubayd bin Mahlayil bin `Aws bin Amlaq bin Lawudh bin Iram bin Sam bin Nuh.

This was the view of As-Suhayli.

He said;

"And it was narrated from some of them that he said, `It is given eleven names in the Tawrah;Al-Madinah, Tabah, Tayyibah, Al-Miskinah, Al-Jabirah, Al-Muhibbah, Al-Mahbubah, Al-Qasimah, Al-Majburah, Al-`Adhra' and Al-Marhumah."'

لَاا مُقَامَ لَكُمْ

There is no position for you.

means, `here, with the Prophet , you cannot stand guard,'

فَارْجِعُوا

Therefore go back,

means, `to your houses and dwellings'.

وَيَسْتَأْذِنُ فَرِيقٌ مِّنْهُمُ النَّبِيَّ

And a band of them ask for permission of the Prophet,

Al-`Awfi reported that Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him said,

"These were Banu Harithah, who said, `We fear for our homes, that they may be robbed."'

This was also stated by others.

Ibn Ishaq mentioned that the one who said this was `Aws bin Qayzi.

يَقُولُونَ إِنَّ بُيُوتَنَا عَوْرَةٌ

saying;"Truly, our homes lie open."

They were using as an excuse to go back to their houses the claim that they were lying open and had nothing to protect them from the enemy, so they were afraid for their homes. But Allah said;

وَمَا هِيَ بِعَوْرَةٍ

And they lay not open.

meaning, it is not as they claim.

إِن يُرِيدُونَ إِلاَّ فِرَارًا



They but wished to flee.

means, they wanted to run away from the battlefield