Translation of the meanings Ayah 118 Surah At-Tawbah - English Translation - Dr. Waleed Bleyhesh Omary - The Noble Qur'an Encyclopedia

Ayah: 118

وَعَلَى ٱلثَّلَٰثَةِ ٱلَّذِينَ خُلِّفُواْ حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا ضَاقَتۡ عَلَيۡهِمُ ٱلۡأَرۡضُ بِمَا رَحُبَتۡ وَضَاقَتۡ عَلَيۡهِمۡ أَنفُسُهُمۡ وَظَنُّوٓاْ أَن لَّا مَلۡجَأَ مِنَ ٱللَّهِ إِلَّآ إِلَيۡهِ ثُمَّ تَابَ عَلَيۡهِمۡ لِيَتُوبُوٓاْۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ هُوَ ٱلتَّوَّابُ ٱلرَّحِيمُ

(118) And ˹He relented˺ towards the three who were left behind^[2252], ˹not˺ until the land tightened around them despite its vastness and their own selves straitened them, and they became certain that there was no refuge from Allah except in Him; He relented on them so that they may repent—verily none but Allah is the All-Forgiving the Most Merciful.

[2252] These are Kaʿb Ibn Mālik, Hilāl Ibn Umayyah and Murārah Ibn al-Rabīʿ, who were sincere Companions but, for one reason or another and without valid excuses, failed to join the Messenger (ﷺ) in his campaign. When he came back, they did not fabricate alibis like the hypocrites did but told the outright truth. To punish them, the Messenger imposed a ban on them; he forbade people to talk to them and ordered them to stay away from their wives. This state of affairs lasted for fifty nights until this aya came down. During this time, they endured acute mental anguish, being both sincere and ostracized by the society to which they belonged. This aya beautifully encapsulates how constrained they felt. For a very detailed firsthand account of their story see al-Bukhārī: 4418 and Muslim: 2769.