۞ ART THOU NOT aware of how those who would always dissemble [their real feelings] speak to their truth-denying brethren from among the followers of earlier revelation: "If you are driven away, we shall most certainly go forth with you, and shall never pay heed to anyone against you; and if war is waged against you, we shall most certainly come to your succour." But God bears witness that they are most flagrantly lying: 11 If they were to be expelled, they would not go with them. If they were to be attacked they would not help them. Even if they were to help them, they would run away from the battle and leave them helpless. 12 Nay, [O believers,] you arouse in their bosoms a fear more intense than [even their fear of] God: this, because they are people who fail to grasp the truth. 13 They will not fight you all except within fortified cities or from behind walls. Their violence among themselves is severe. You think they are together, but their hearts are diverse. That is because they are a people who do not reason. 14 They are like those who tasted the evil consequences of their deeds a short while before. A grievous chastisement awaits them. 15 Like Satan, when he said to man, 'Disbelieve'; then, when he disbelieved, he said, 'Surely I am quit of you. Surely I fear God, the Lord of all Being.' 16 Both of them will end up in Hell, where they will abide for ever. This is the punishment for the wicked. 17