THUS IT IS: if
76 the hypocrites, and they in whose hearts is disease,
77 and they who, by spreading false rumours, would cause disturbances
78 in the City [of the Prophet] desist not [from their hostile doings], We shall indeed give thee mastery over them, [O Muhammad] - and then they will not remain thy neighbours in this [city] for more than a little while:
79
Asad Translation Note Number :
For my above rendering of la'in, see surah {30}, note [45]. With this passage, the discourse returns to the theme touched upon in verse {1} and more fully dealt with in verses {9-27}: namely, the opposition with which the Prophet and his followers were faced in their early years at Yathrib (which by that time had come to be known as Madinat an-Nabi, "the City of the Prophet").
See note [16] above.
Thus Zamakhshari, explaining the term al-murjifun in the above context.
I.e., "there will be open warfare between thee and them", which will result in their expulsion from Medina: a prediction which was fulfilled in the course of time.