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Those of the Bedouins who were left behind, around Medina - that is to say, those whom Allahu ta’ālā made to stay behind and not to accompany you when you had asked them to set out with you for Mecca, fearing that Quraysh would attack you upon your return, in the year of al-Hudaybiyya - will say to you, 'Our possessions and our families kept us occupied, [preventing us] from going forth with you. So ask forgiveness for us!', of Allahu ta’ālā, for our failure to go forth with you. Allahu ta’ālā, exalted be He, exposes their mendacity by saying: They say with their tongues, that is to say, in asking forgiveness, and in the preceding statement [of theirs], what is not in their hearts, and so they are lying in the excuse which they give. Say: 'Who can (an interrogative meant [rhetorically] as a negation, that is to say, 'none [can]') avail you anything against Allahu ta’ālā should He desire to cause you harm (read darran or durran) or desire to bring you benefit? Nay, but Allahu ta’ālā is ever Aware of what you do, in other words, He is ever possessed of such an attribute.