سَيَقُولُ لَكَ ٱلْمُخَلَّفُونَ مِنَ ٱلْأَعْرَابِ شَغَلَتْنَآ أَمْوَٰلُنَا وَأَهْلُونَا فَٱسْتَغْفِرْ لَنَا ۚ يَقُولُونَ بِأَلْسِنَتِهِم مَّا لَيْسَ فِى قُلُوبِهِمْ ۚ قُلْ فَمَن يَمْلِكُ لَكُم مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ شَيْـًٔا إِنْ أَرَادَ بِكُمْ ضَرًّا أَوْ أَرَادَ بِكُمْ نَفْعًۢا ۚ بَلْ كَانَ ٱللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرًۢا
The Bedouins who had stayed back [from joining the Prophet in his ‘umrah journey to Makkah] will tell you, ‘Our possessions and families kept us occupied. So plead [to Allah] for our forgiveness!’ They will say with their tongues what is not in their hearts. Say, ‘Whether He desires to cause you harm or desires to bring you benefit, who can be of any avail to you against Allah[’s will]? Indeed Allah is well aware of what you do.’
بَلْ ظَنَنتُمْ أَن لَّن يَنقَلِبَ ٱلرَّسُولُ وَٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِلَىٰٓ أَهْلِيهِمْ أَبَدًۭا وَزُيِّنَ ذَٰلِكَ فِى قُلُوبِكُمْ وَظَنَنتُمْ ظَنَّ ٱلسَّوْءِ وَكُنتُمْ قَوْمًۢا بُورًۭا
Rather, you thought that the Apostle and the faithful will not ever return to their folks, and that was made to seem decorous to your hearts; you entertained evil thoughts, and you were a ruined lot.
وَمَن لَّمْ يُؤْمِنۢ بِٱللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِۦ فَإِنَّآ أَعْتَدْنَا لِلْكَٰفِرِينَ سَعِيرًۭا
Those who have no faith in Allah and His Apostle [should know that] We have prepared a blaze for the faithless.
وَلِلَّهِ مُلْكُ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۚ يَغْفِرُ لِمَن يَشَآءُ وَيُعَذِّبُ مَن يَشَآءُ ۚ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ غَفُورًۭا رَّحِيمًۭا
To Allah belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth: He forgives whomever He wishes, and punishes whomever He wishes, and Allah is all-forgiving, all-merciful.
سَيَقُولُ ٱلْمُخَلَّفُونَ إِذَا ٱنطَلَقْتُمْ إِلَىٰ مَغَانِمَ لِتَأْخُذُوهَا ذَرُونَا نَتَّبِعْكُمْ ۖ يُرِيدُونَ أَن يُبَدِّلُوا۟ كَلَٰمَ ٱللَّهِ ۚ قُل لَّن تَتَّبِعُونَا كَذَٰلِكُمْ قَالَ ٱللَّهُ مِن قَبْلُ ۖ فَسَيَقُولُونَ بَلْ تَحْسُدُونَنَا ۚ بَلْ كَانُوا۟ لَا يَفْقَهُونَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًۭا
[In the near future] when you will set out to capture booty, those who stayed behind [in this journey] will say, : ‘Let us follow you.’ They desire to change the word of Allah. Say, ‘You will never follow us! Allah has said thus beforehand.’ Then they will say, ‘You are envious of us.’ Indeed, they do not understand but a little.
قُل لِّلْمُخَلَّفِينَ مِنَ ٱلْأَعْرَابِ سَتُدْعَوْنَ إِلَىٰ قَوْمٍ أُو۟لِى بَأْسٍۢ شَدِيدٍۢ تُقَٰتِلُونَهُمْ أَوْ يُسْلِمُونَ ۖ فَإِن تُطِيعُوا۟ يُؤْتِكُمُ ٱللَّهُ أَجْرًا حَسَنًۭا ۖ وَإِن تَتَوَلَّوْا۟ كَمَا تَوَلَّيْتُم مِّن قَبْلُ يُعَذِّبْكُمْ عَذَابًا أَلِيمًۭا
Say to the Bedouins who stayed behind, ‘[Later on] you will be called against a people of a great might: they will either embrace Islam, or you will fight them. So if you obey, Allah will give you a good reward; but if you turn away like you turned away before, He will punish you with a painful punishment.’
لَّيْسَ عَلَى ٱلْأَعْمَىٰ حَرَجٌۭ وَلَا عَلَى ٱلْأَعْرَجِ حَرَجٌۭ وَلَا عَلَى ٱلْمَرِيضِ حَرَجٌۭ ۗ وَمَن يُطِعِ ٱللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُۥ يُدْخِلْهُ جَنَّٰتٍۢ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَٰرُ ۖ وَمَن يَتَوَلَّ يُعَذِّبْهُ عَذَابًا أَلِيمًۭا
There is no blame on the blind, nor is there any blame on the lame, nor is there blame on the sick [if they are unable to go out with the troops to face the enemies]; and whoever obeys Allah and His Apostle, He will admit him into gardens with streams running in them, and whoever refuses to comply, He will punish him with a painful punishment.
English translation: Ali Quli Qarai
Triangulating Majmaʿ al-Bayān, al-Tibyān, Tafsīr al-Qummī, al-Mīzān, and the Enlightening Commentary. (al-Burhān is silent for this passage.)
What the passage says. God foretells that the bedouin who stayed behind from Ḥudaybiyya will plead "our properties and families kept us busy; ask forgiveness for us" (v.11), exposes their real motive — the "evil thought" that the Messenger and believers would never return (v.12) — threatens the disbelievers with the Fire (v.13), affirms His sovereignty and mercy (v.14), foretells they will beg to share the spoils of Khaybar and be refused (v.15), summons them instead to a future war against "a people of great might" (v.16), and exempts the disabled from jihād (v.17).
Who they were and why they lagged. Ṭabarsī, al-Mīzān and al-Qummī name the tribes around Medina — Ghifār, Aslam, Muzayna, Juhayna, Ashjaʿ, al-Duʾil — who declined the Prophet's call for fear of Quraysh. al-Mīzān makes a sharp point: their very request for forgiveness shows they knew staying back was a sin, so "busy with property and family" names the cause of the sin, not a valid excuse — and God belies them outright. Ṭabarsī and Ṭūsī add that the accurate prediction of what they would say is itself a proof of prophethood (knowledge of the unseen). All read the "evil thought" (v.12) either as their supposing the party would be annihilated or, as al-Mīzān prefers, that God would not aid His Messenger — linking it to v.6.
Khaybar's spoils (v.15). The present sources agree the refusal concerns Khaybar, whose spoils God reserved to the people of Ḥudaybiyya (Ṭabarsī, Ṭūsī, al-Qummī, al-Mīzān). "They wish to change God's word" = to overturn that reservation; their retort "you envy us" — flung at the infallible Messenger — betrays, in al-Mīzān's words, "the weakness of their understanding."
The "people of great might" (v.16). Here the sources are frankly tentative. al-Mīzān lists the candidates — Hawāzin, Thaqīf, the Byzantines at Muʾta/Tabūk, the apostates fought by Abū Bakr, the Persians — and favours peoples fought after Khaybar; the Enlightening Commentary reaches a similar open verdict, noting only that "you fight them or they submit" excludes People of the Book and marks them as idolaters. v.17: all agree the blind, lame and sick are relieved of the obligation to fight, with the promise/threat that closes the section repeated (obey → Gardens; turn away → grievous punishment).