There are some people who say: 'We believe in Allah and the Last Day, 'yet they are not believers. 8 They deceive God and the believers. However, they have deceived no one but themselves, a fact of which they are not aware. 9 In their hearts is a disease, which God has increased. They will have a painful punishment, because they have been lying. 10 And when it is said to them, "Do not cause corruption on the earth," they say, "We are but reformers." 11 Oh, verily, it is they, they who are spreading corruption but they perceive it not? 12 When it is said to them: 'Believe as (other) people believe,' they reply, 'Are we to believe as fools believe?' It is they who are the fools, if only they knew! 13 When they meet those who believe, they say, "We, too, are believers", but when they privily meet their evil geniuses, they say, "Indeed we are with you: we are only mocking at these people". 14 God will requite them for their mockery, and will leave them for a while in their overweening arrogance, blindly stumbling to and fro: 15 These are they who purchased error for guidance, but their traffic profited not, nor have they ever become guided. 16 Their example is that of one who kindled a fire, but when it illuminated what was around him, Allah took away their light and left them in darkness [so] they could not see. 17 They are deaf; they are dumb; they are blind so they will not return (to the right way). 18 Or (another similitude) is that of a rain-laden cloud from the sky: In it are zones of darkness, and thunder and lightning: They press their fingers in their ears to keep out the stunning thunder-clap, the while they are in terror of death. But Allah is ever round the rejecters of Faith! 19 The lightning well-nigh takes away their sight; whenever it gives them light, they advance therein, and whenever darkness falls around them, they stand still. And if God so willed, He could indeed take away their hearing and their sight: for, verily, God has the power to will anything. 20