The Quran

وَلَو أَنّا كَتَبنا عَلَيهِم أَنِ اقتُلوا أَنفُسَكُم أَوِ اخرُجوا مِن دِيارِكُم ما فَعَلوهُ إِلّا قَليلٌ مِنهُم ۖ وَلَو أَنَّهُم فَعَلوا ما يوعَظونَ بِهِ لَكانَ خَيرًا لَهُم وَأَشَدَّ تَثبيتًا

Muhammad Asad

Yet if We were to ordain for them,¹ "Lay down your lives," or, "Forsake your homelands," only a very few of them would do it² - although, if they did what they are admonished to do, it would indeed be for their own good and apt to strengthen them greatly [in faith],

I.e., by means of the God-inspired commands issued by the Prophet (see preceding note).
Lit., "they would not do it, save for a few of them": the pronoun obviously relates to the half-hearted, who are not prepared to undergo the sacrifices which their faith demands of them. The reference to laying down one's life in the defence of faith and freedom and, if necessary, abandoning one's homeland, introduces, as it were, the long passage beginning with verse 71, which deals with fighting in God's cause.