إِلَّا ٱلَّذِينَ يَصِلُونَ إِلَىٰ قَوْمٍۭ بَيْنَكُمْ وَبَيْنَهُم مِّيثَـٰقٌ أَوْ جَآءُوكُمْ حَصِرَتْ صُدُورُهُمْ أَن يُقَـٰتِلُوكُمْ أَوْ يُقَـٰتِلُوا۟ قَوْمَهُمْ ۚ وَلَوْ شَآءَ ٱللَّهُ لَسَلَّطَهُمْ عَلَيْكُمْ فَلَقَـٰتَلُوكُمْ ۚ فَإِنِ ٱعْتَزَلُوكُمْ فَلَمْ يُقَـٰتِلُوكُمْ وَأَلْقَوْا۟ إِلَيْكُمُ ٱلسَّلَمَ فَمَا جَعَلَ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمْ عَلَيْهِمْ سَبِيلًا
Illal lazeena yasiloona ilaa qawmim binakum wa bainahum meesaaqun aw jaaa'ookum hasirat sudooruhum ai yuqaatilookum aw yuqaatiloo qawmahum, wa law shaaa'al laahu lasallatahum 'alaikum falaqaatalookum; fa ini' tazalookum falam yuqaatilookum wa alqaw ilaikumus salama famaa ja'alal laahu lakum 'alaihim sabeelaa
kecuali orang-orang yang meminta perlindungan kepada sesuatu kaum, yang antara kamu dan kaum itu telah ada perjanjian (damai)1 atau orang-orang yang datang kepada kamu sedang hati mereka merasa keberatan untuk memerangi kamu dan memerangi kaumnya. Kalau Allah menghendaki, tentu Dia memberi kekuasaan kepada mereka terhadap kamu, lalu pastilah mereka memerangimu. Tetapi jika mereka membiarkan kamu, dan tidak memerangi kamu serta mengemukakan perdamaian kepadamu maka Allah tidak memberi jalan bagimu (untuk menawan dan membunuh) mereka.
Except for those who reach a people with whom you have a treaty, or who come to you with hearts reluctant to fight you or to fight their own people. Had God willed, he would have given them power over you, and they would have fought you. So if they withdraw from you, do not fight you, and offer you peace, then God grants you no way against them.
The sentence opens with an exception particle, so it belongs grammatically to the order it follows rather than arriving later as a softening. Two groups fall outside that command: people who take refuge with a community already under treaty, and people who come with their chests too tight to fight on either side, an Arabic idiom for constriction felt in the body. The exemption turns on that inner state and on standing away, not on any declaration of belief.