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qul lan yanfaʿakumu l-firāru ʾin farartum mina l-mawti ʾawi l-qatli wa-ʾidhan lā tumattaʿūna ʾillā qalīlan
Say, ‘Flight will not avail you, if you flee from death, or from being killed, and then you will be let to enjoy only for a little while.’
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Al-’Ahzab – Verse 16
16. “Say: ‘Flight will never avail you if you flee from death or slaying, and in that case you will not be allowed to enjoy yourselves but a little’.”
After that Allah divulged the intention of the hypocrites that their purpose was not the protection of their houses but they wanted to escape from the battle field, He answers them through two proofs: at first, He commands to His Messenger as follows:
Supposing you succeed to escape, your position will be one of these two ones: either your life’s final term has ended and your certain death has come, then wherever you are, death will seize you, even when you are at home beside your wife and your children, an incident from inside or outside puts an end to your life. And if your life’s final term has not ended you will live in this world for a few days disgracefully and humiliatorily and you will be as a captive in the hand of enemies and then the divine punishment will seize you.
In fact, this statement is like what was revealed in the Battle of ’Uhud concerning another group of the slothful hypocrites, where the Qur’an says:
and they would be killed.
Footnotes