Translation of the meanings Ayah 83 Surah At-Tawbah - English Translation - Dr. Waleed Bleyhesh Omary - The Noble Qur'an Encyclopedia

Ayah: 83

فَإِن رَّجَعَكَ ٱللَّهُ إِلَىٰ طَآئِفَةٖ مِّنۡهُمۡ فَٱسۡتَـٔۡذَنُوكَ لِلۡخُرُوجِ فَقُل لَّن تَخۡرُجُواْ مَعِيَ أَبَدٗا وَلَن تُقَٰتِلُواْ مَعِيَ عَدُوًّاۖ إِنَّكُمۡ رَضِيتُم بِٱلۡقُعُودِ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٖ فَٱقۡعُدُواْ مَعَ ٱلۡخَٰلِفِينَ

(83) Should Allah return you back ˹Muhammad˺ to a band of them^[2187] and they sought your permission to set out, say: “You shall never set out with me ever and shall never fight an enemy with me. You were satisfied to stay back in the first time!^[2188] Stay then with the fall-behinders!^[2189]”

[2187] These are the group of hypocrites who sought the Messenger’s permission without valid excuses to stay in Madinah and not join him on his way to Tabuk (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Wāḥidī, al-Basīṭ, Ibn Kathīr).
[2188] The ‘tough’ punishments mentioned here and in the next aya, amount to naming and shaming (cf. al-Rāzī, Ibn ʿĀshūr); they are being pointed out as discordant to the rest of society (cf. Ibn ʿAṭiyyah).
[2189] al-Khālif (plural al-khālifūn) is the person who remains behind because of lack or incapacity (cf. al-Iṣfahānī, al-Mufradāt). It is used here to impart a derogatory sense (cf. al-Ṭabarī).