The Hypocrites (Al-Munaafeqoon)
In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Most Merciful
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 use their oaths as a cover and thus they bar others from God's way: what they have been doing is truly evil -- 2 That is, because they believed, and thereafter disbelieved, wherefore their hearts are sealed, so that they understand not. 3 ۞ Pleasing seem their persons when you look at them; and when they talk, you listen to their speech. Yet they are like the wooden panelling of a wall. They imagine every rebuke to be directed against them. They are the enemies, beware of them. May God damn them, how pervert are they! 4 for, when they are told, "Come, the Apostle of God will pray [unto God] that you be forgiven", they turn their heads away, and thou canst see how they draw back in their false pride. 5 Equal it is for them, whether thou askest forgiveness for them or thou askest not forgiveness for them; God will never forgive them. God guides not the people of the ungodly. 6 They it is who say: Do not spend upon those who are with the Apostle of Allah until they break up. And Allah's are the treasures of the heavens and the earth, but the hypocrites do not understand. 7 They say: 'If we return to the City, the strong will expel the humiliated' But the might belongs to Allah, and His Messenger and the believers, but the hypocrites do not know. 8