"And if We willed, We could show them to you, and you would know them by their marks."—meaning: their description without having to be told. "But you will surely know them by the tone of their speech"—meaning: their pretexts and the falsehood they used as excuses during the expeditions and in what they said. Then Allah informed His Messenger about them; thus, after this verse, no hypocrite remained unknown to the Messenger of Allah, and the Prophet disclosed them to Hudhayfah.
Muhammad said: "(In the tone of their speech)" means: in the tone of their words and their meaning, and the root of the word
﴿وَلَوْ نَشَاءُ لأَرَيْنَاكَهُمْ فَلَعَرَفْتَهُمْ بِسِيمَاهُمْ﴾ يَعْنِي: نعتهم من غير أَن تعرفهم ﴿وَلَتَعْرِفَنَّهُمْ فِي لَحْنِ الْقَوْلِ﴾ يَعْنِي: تَعَلُّلَهم وَمَا كَانُوا يَعْتَذِرُونَ بِهِ من الْبَاطِل فِي الغَزْوِ، وَفِيمَا يكون مِنْهُم من القَوْل، ثمَّ أخبرهُ اللَّه بهم، فَلم يخف على رَسُول الله بعد هَذِه الْآيَة منافقٌ، وأَسَرَّهم النَّبِي إِلَى حُذَيْفَة.
قَالَ محمدٌ: (فِي لحن القَوْل) أَي: فِي لحن كَلَامهم وَمَعْنَاهُ، وأصل الْكَلِمَة
