by that statement of theirs, while concealing doubt and misgiving, {and they deceive not} by that action of theirs {except themselves}, to the exclusion of the Messenger of Allah—Peace and blessings of God be upon him—and the believers; {and they perceive not} the location of their deceiving themselves, and Allah's, Mighty and Majestic, drawing them on gradually by giving them respite; {In their hearts} is the doubt and misgiving of hypocrisy, (1) and Allah increases them in doubt and misgiving because they used to lie to Allah, His Messenger, and the believers by saying with their tongues, "We believe in Allah and the Last Day," while in that statement of theirs they were liars, because of concealing doubt and disease in the beliefs of their hearts regarding the command of Allah and the command of His Messenger—Peace and blessings of God be upon him. Thus, it is more fitting according to the wisdom of Allah, Sublime is His Majesty, that His threat to them be for that with which He opened the report about them regarding their hideous deeds and blameworthy traits, rather than for that which was not mentioned among their deeds. For the rest of the verses of His Revelation were revealed in this manner, namely: that He opens the mention of the good deeds of a people, then concludes that with the threat based on what He opened the mention of their deeds with, or He opens the mention of the bad deeds of others, then concludes that with the threat based on what He began the mention of their deeds with.

Likewise, the correct view—regarding the verses in which He opened the mention of some of the bad deeds of the hypocrites—is that He concludes that with the threat based on what He opened the mention of their hideous deeds with. So this is that, (2) along with the indication of the other verse showing the correctness of what we have said, and its testimony that the obligatory recitation is what we have chosen, and that the correct Interpretation is what we have interpreted, in that Allah's threat to the hypocrites in this verse with painful punishment is for lying, which combines the meaning of doubt and calling [the truth] a lie. And that is the statement of Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He: {When the hypocrites come to you, they say, "We testify that you are the Messenger of Allah." And Allah knows that you are His Messenger, and Allah testifies that the hypocrites are liars. They have taken their oaths as a cover, so they averted [people] from the way of Allah. Indeed, it is evil that they used to do} [Surat al-Munāfiqūn: 1, 2]. And the verse