The Hypocrites (Al-Munaafeqoon)
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
WHEN THE HYPOCRITES come unto thee, they say: "We bear witness that thou art indeed God's Apostle!" But God knows that thou art truly His Apostle; and He bears witness that the hypocrites are indeed false [in their declaration of faith]. 1 They have made their oaths a cover [for their falseness,] and thus they turn others away from the Path of God. Evil indeed is all that they are wont to do: 2 That is because they accepted faith with their tongues then disbelieved with their hearts, therefore their hearts were sealed – so now they do not understand anything. 3 ۞ When you see them their bodies please you, but when they speak and you listen to their sayings, they are like propped up timber. Every shout (they hear) they take it to be against them. They are the enemy be wary of them. Allah kills them! How perverse they are! 4 And when it is said unto them: come! that the apostle of Allah may ask forgiveness for you, they twist their heads, and thou beholdest them retire, while they are stiff-necked. 5 It is equal to them whether thou pray for their forgiveness or not. Allah will not forgive them. Truly Allah guides not rebellious transgressors. 6 It is they who say, "Give nothing to those who are around the Messenger of God so that they will desert him." To God belongs the treasures of the heavens and the earth, but the hypocrites have no understanding. 7 They say, 'If we return to the City, the mightier ones of it will expel the more abased'; yet glory belongs unto God, and unto His Messenger and the believers, but the hypocrites do not know it. 8