"And whoever turns his back to them on such a day," Qatadah said: meaning, the day of Badr. "Except as a maneuver for battle," Al-Hasan said: meaning, he leaves one position for another. "Or joining a company [of his own]," meaning: he retreats to a group. "Has certainly earned wrath from Allah," meaning: he has become deserving of it.
Muhammad said: The accusative case (nasb) in His saying: "Except as a maneuver for battle" may be interpreted as a state (hal); meaning: unless someone maneuvers for the sake of fighting, and likewise for "or joining a company."
It is also permissible for the accusative case in both to be interpreted as an exception (istithna'); meaning: except for a man who is maneuvering,
﴿وَمن يولهم يومئذٍ دبره﴾ قَالَ قَتَادَةُ: يَعْنِي: يَوْمَ بَدْرٍ ﴿إِلَّا متحرفاً لقِتَال﴾ قَالَ الْحَسَنُ: يَعْنِي يَدَعُ مَوْقِفَ مَكَانٍ لمكانٍ ﴿أَوْ مُتَحَيِّزًا إِلَى فِئَة﴾ أَيْ: يَنْحَازُ إِلَى جَمَاعَةٍ ﴿فَقَدْ بَاء بغضب من الله﴾ أَيْ: اسْتَوْجَبَ.
قَالَ مُحَمَّدٌ: يَجُوزُ أَنْ يَكُونَ النَّصْبُ فِي قَوْلِهِ: ﴿إِلَّا متحرفاً لقِتَال﴾ عَلَى الْحَالِ؛ أَيْ: إِلا أَنْ يَتَحَرَّفَ فُلانٌ بِقِتَالٍ، وَكَذَلِكَ ﴿أَوْ متحيزاً﴾.
وَيَجُوزُ أَنْ يَكُونَ النَّصْبُ فِيهِمَا عَلَى الاسْتِثْنَاءِ؛ أَيْ: إِلا رَجُلا مُتَحَرِّفًا،
