( لو كان عرضا قريبا ) واسم كان مضمر ، أي : لو كان ما تدعونهم إليه عرضا قريبا ، أي : غنيمة قريبة المتناول ، ( وسفرا قاصدا ) أي قريبا هينا ، ( لاتبعوك ) لخرجوا معك ، ( ولكن بعدت عليهم الشقة ) أي : المسافة ، والشقة : السفر البعيد ، لأنه يشق على الإنسان . وقيل : الشقة الغاية التي يقصدونها ، ( وسيحلفون بالله لو استطعنا لخرجنا معكم يهلكون أنفسهم ) يعني باليمين الكاذبة ، ( والله يعلم إنهم لكاذبون ) في أيمانهم وإيمانهم ، لأنهم كانوا مستطيعين .
If the Prophet had called the hypocrites who asked for permission to stay behind to an easy reward and a journey that was not difficult, they would have followed him; but the distance he called them to cover to get to the enemy was too great for them, so they stayed behind. These hypocrites who asked for permission to stay behind would swear by Allah when the Prophet returned to them, saying that if they could have gone out to fight with them they would have done so. They destroy themselves by exposing themselves to Allah’s punishment, because they stayed behind and then swore a lie. Of course, Allah knew they were lying in what they claimed and in what they swore.