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ʿafā llāhu ʿanka li-ma ʾadhinta lahum ḥattā yatabayyana laka lladhīna ṣadaqū wa-taʿlama l-kādhibīna
May Allah excuse you! Why did you grant them leave [to stay behind] before those who told the truth were evident to you and you had ascertained the liars?
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah At-Tawbah – Verse 43
43 . “May Allah pardon you! Why did you give them leave before you had found out those who spoke the truth and before you had known the liars?”
Try to Recognize Hypocrites
It is understood from the tone and style of these verses that some hypocrites came to the Prophet (S) and, after expressing some excuses, and even taking oaths, they asked him permission that they would not take part in the battlefield of Tabūk. So, the Prophet (S) gave permission to that group. In this verse, Allah addresses His Messenger kindly, in a manner that, before severity in statement, His words are about remittal and forgiveness. Then the Qur’ān implies why he did not permit that those who spoke the truth be recognized from the liars and he would distinguish them. The verse says:
Is the abovementioned reproof and blame, which has been combined with the announcement of Allah’s forgiveness, an evidence for that the Prophet’s permission had been an offense, or it had been only a ‘leaving the better’? This question may be answered that the mentioned ‘reproof and blame’ has a metaphorical form and there has not been even a ‘leaving the better’ in the course, and the purpose has been to state the hypocritical spirit of the hypocrites in a delicate and metaphorical statement.
This meaning can be made clear by mentioning an explicit example. Suppose a cruel person intends to beat your son, but at the same time one of your friends stops him of doing that action. Regarding that, not only you will not be inconvenient but also you will become happy. Yet, to prove the inward indecency of that person, you may tell your friend, in a form of reproof and blame, why he did not let him beat and all people around there would recognize that cruel hypocritical person. Your aim from this statement is only to prove his cruelty and hypocrisy which has been appeared in the guize of ‘reproof and blame’ unto your friend and your advocate.