Amatul Rahmân Omer:
And (recall) when a party of them (also) said, `O people of Yathrib (- Madînah)! you can put up no stand (in the face of the enemy); you had better go back (to your homes or your old faith to save your lives). And a section of them asked the Prophet for leave saying, `Surely, our homes are lying exposed (to danger) whereas they were not actually lying exposed, but they only sought to flee (from the battlefield).
