Verses 9-10
يُخَادِعُونَ اللهَ وَالَّذِينَ اٰمَنُوا وَمَا يَخْدَعُونَ اِلاَّ اَنْفُسَهُمْ وَمَا يَشْعُرُونَ ❀ فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ مَرَضٌ فَزَادَهُمُ اللهُ مَرَضًا وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ اَلِيمٌ بِمَا كَانُوا يَكْذِبُونَ
Fain would they deceive Allah and those who believe, but they only deceive themselves, and realize [it] not! * In their hearts is a disease; and Allah has increased their disease; and theirs is a grievous penalty, because they are false [to themselves].
(Yukhādi‘ūna Allāha wa alladhīna āmanū wa mā yakhda‘ūna illā anfusahum wa mā yash‘urūn * Fī qulūbihim maraḍun fa-zādahum Allāhu maraḍan wa la-hum ‘adhābun alīmun bi-mā kānū yakdhibūn.)
The positioning [of this verse and its relationship
with the preceding one]:
Consider first what the phrases indicate: censure of dissembling; then condemnation of it; then denunciation of dissemblers as repugnant; then the threatening of them; then intimidation of them; then amazement at them; then an exposition of their aims as expressed above; then an explanation of what made them say what they did; then a description of the first of the four misdeeds arising from their dissembling, which are deception, corruption, their calling the believers feeble-minded, and their deriding them. Then a portrayal of their crimes and artifices by means of an allegorical comparison (isti‘āra tamthīliyya). It is like this: it depicts their conduct in the face of Allah (the Most High)’s injunctions and towards the Prophet (Upon whom be blessings and peace) and the believers – their displaying belief for worldly ends despite inwardly disbelieving. It depicts how Allah, the Prophet and the believers act towards them, gradually enacting the precepts of the believers against them, although in Allah’s sight they are the most abominable disbelievers. Just like two people tricking each other, or a