The Quran

أَلَم تَرَ إِلَى الَّذينَ قيلَ لَهُم كُفّوا أَيدِيَكُم وَأَقيمُوا الصَّلاةَ وَآتُوا الزَّكاةَ فَلَمّا كُتِبَ عَلَيهِمُ القِتالُ إِذا فَريقٌ مِنهُم يَخشَونَ النّاسَ كَخَشيَةِ اللَّهِ أَو أَشَدَّ خَشيَةً ۚ وَقالوا رَبَّنا لِمَ كَتَبتَ عَلَينَا القِتالَ لَولا أَخَّرتَنا إِلىٰ أَجَلٍ قَريبٍ ۗ قُل مَتاعُ الدُّنيا قَليلٌ وَالآخِرَةُ خَيرٌ لِمَنِ اتَّقىٰ وَلا تُظلَمونَ فَتيلًا

Muhammad Asad

ART THOU NOT aware of those who have been told, "Curb your hands,¹ and be constant in prayer, and render the purifying dues"? But as soon as fighting [in God's cause] is ordained for them, lo, some of them stand in awe of men as one should stand in awe of God - or in even greater awe - and say, "O our Sustainer! Why hast Thou ordained fighting for us? If only Thou hadst granted us a delay for a little while!" Say: "Brief is the enjoyment of this world, whereas the life to come is the best for all who are conscious of God - since none of you shall be wronged by as much as a hair's breadth.

I.e., from unrighteous violence, to which man so often inclines. The fact that most people have to be told to refrain from violence is contrasted, in the next sentence, with the unwillingness on the part of many of them to expose themselves to physical danger in a righteous cause.