لَا يُقَـٰتِلُونَكُمْ جَمِيعًا إِلَّا فِى قُرًى مُّحَصَّنَةٍ أَوْ مِن وَرَآءِ جُدُرٍۭ ۚ بَأْسُهُم بَيْنَهُمْ شَدِيدٌ ۚ تَحْسَبُهُمْ جَمِيعًا وَقُلُوبُهُمْ شَتَّىٰ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَوْمٌ لَّا يَعْقِلُونَ 14
Translations
They will not fight you all except within fortified cities or from behind walls. Their violence [i.e., enmity] among themselves is severe. You think they are together, but their hearts are diverse. That is because they are a people who do not reason.
Transliteration
La yuqatilunakum jami'an illa fi quran muhassanah aw min wara'i judur. Ba'suhum baynahum shadid. Tahsabuhum jami'an wa qulubuhum shatta. Dhalika bi'annahum qawmun la ya'qilun.
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah describes the cowardice and disunity of the Jewish tribes of Madinah (specifically Banu Nadir, whose exile prompted this surah). They will not fight the Muslims collectively except from fortified cities or behind walls, revealing their weakness and fear. Ibn Kathir notes that despite their outward show of unity, their hearts are divided and full of mutual animosity, making them incapable of genuine collective resistance—a condition resulting from their lack of reason and understanding of truth.
Revelation Context
This ayah was revealed during or after the siege of Banu Nadir (year 4 AH/625 CE), a Jewish tribe that was expelled from Madinah for treachery. The surah documents this historical event and the divine wisdom in their exile. The ayah specifically addresses the actual behavior of these tribes during the siege, where they relied on fortifications rather than open confrontation.
Related Hadiths
The hadith in Sahih Bukhari (Book of Maghazi) documents the siege of Banu Nadir, where the Prophet ﷺ ordered the cutting of their date palms, demonstrating how external pressure exposed their internal divisions and inability to maintain unified resistance.
Themes
Key Lesson
True strength comes from unity of purpose and sound faith, not from fortifications or numbers. Conversely, societies built on falsehood and mutual suspicion will inevitably crumble from within, regardless of their outward defenses—a timeless principle for believers to trust in Allah's justice.
Related Ayahs
لَوْ أَنزَلْنَا هَـٰذَا ٱلْقُرْءَانَ عَلَىٰ جَبَلٍ لَّرَأَيْتَهُۥ خَـٰشِعًا مُّتَصَدِّعًا مِّنْ خَشْيَةِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ وَتِلْكَ ٱلْأَمْثَـٰلُ نَضْرِبُهَا لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ
If We had sent down this Qur’ān upon a mountain, you would have seen it humbled and splitting from fear of Allāh. And these examples We present to the people that perhaps they will give thought.
وَٱلَّذِينَ تَبَوَّءُو ٱلدَّارَ وَٱلْإِيمَـٰنَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ يُحِبُّونَ مَنْ هَاجَرَ إِلَيْهِمْ وَلَا يَجِدُونَ فِى صُدُورِهِمْ حَاجَةً مِّمَّآ أُوتُوا۟ وَيُؤْثِرُونَ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِهِمْ وَلَوْ كَانَ بِهِمْ خَصَاصَةٌ ۚ وَمَن يُوقَ شُحَّ نَفْسِهِۦ فَأُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْمُفْلِحُونَ
And [also for] those who were settled in the Home [i.e.,al-Madīnah] and [adopted] the faith before them. They love those who emigrated to them and find not any want in their breasts of what they [i.e., the emigrants] were given but give [them] preference over themselves, even though they are in privation. And whoever is protected from the stinginess of his soul - it is those who will be the successful.
لَأَنتُمْ أَشَدُّ رَهْبَةً فِى صُدُورِهِم مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَوْمٌ لَّا يَفْقَهُونَ
You [believers] are more fearful within their breasts than Allāh. That is because they are a people who do not understand.
كَمَثَلِ ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ قَرِيبًا ۖ ذَاقُوا۟ وَبَالَ أَمْرِهِمْ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ
[Theirs is] like the example of those shortly before them: they tasted the bad consequence of their affair, and they will have a painful punishment.