وَلَوْ أَنَّا كَتَبْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ أَنِ ٱقْتُلُوٓا۟ أَنفُسَكُمْ أَوِ ٱخْرُجُوا۟ مِن دِيَـٰرِكُم مَّا فَعَلُوهُ إِلَّا قَلِيلٌ مِّنْهُمْ ۖ وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ فَعَلُوا۟ مَا يُوعَظُونَ بِهِۦ لَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَّهُمْ وَأَشَدَّ تَثْبِيتًا
Wa law annaa katabnaa 'alaihim aniq tulooo anfusakum awikh rujoo min diyaarikum maa fa'aloohu illaa qaleelum minhum wa law annahum fa'aloo maa yoo'azoona bihee lakaana khairal lahum wa ashadda tasbeetaa
Jeślibyśmy im przykazali: "Zabijajcie się!" albo też: "Wychodźcie z waszych domostw!" - uczyniliby to tylko nieliczni z nich. Gdyby uczynili to, do czego zostali napomniani, to byłoby lepsze dla nich i mocniejsze dla ich utwierdzenia.
Had we prescribed for them, "Lay down your lives" or "Leave your homes," only a few of them would have done it. Yet if they had done what they were counseled to do, it would have been better for them and a firmer grounding.
The demand actually made of them in the previous verse was a light one — bring your disputes to the Messenger and accept the outcome. This verse measures that refusal against two commands never issued to this community, one of them the very thing asked of the Children of Israel after the calf, and concludes that almost none would have complied. Tathbīt, the firmness they forfeited, comes from a root for being planted in place.