His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

"In their hearts is a disease, so Allah increased their disease. And for them is a painful punishment because they used to lie." "And when it is said to them, 'Do not cause corruption in the land,' they say, 'We are but reformers.'" "Indeed, they are the corrupters, but they do not perceive."

(p-120) The disease is a metaphor for the corruption that exists in the beliefs of these hypocrites. This may be due to doubt or denial because of their envy, while they know the truth of what they deny. The interpreters have explained it in this manner. Some people said: the disease is their distress at the emergence of the matter of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him. Al-Asma'i read from Abu 'Umar: "disease" with the letter ر (ra) being silent, and this is a language in the source. Abu al-Fath said: and it is not a lightening of the word. The interpreters differed regarding the meaning of His saying: "So Allah increased their disease." It was said: it is a supplication against them, and it was said: it is news that Allah has done that to them. This increase is due to what is revealed from the revelation and what appears from the proofs. So it is blindness upon these hypocrites, and every time they lie, the disease increases. Hamzah read "So He increased them" with a kasrah (a vowel mark) on the ز (zay), and so did Ibn 'Amir. Nafi' would give a slight nasal sound to the ز (zay) towards the kasrah, while the others opened it. And "painful" means painful, as the poet, Amr ibn Ma'adi Karib, said:

"Is there any sound from the fragrant one, the All-Hearing..."

meaning, the one who hears.

Ibn Kathir, Nafi', Abu 'Amr, and Ibn 'Amir read "they lie" with a dammah (a vowel mark) on the ي (ya) and a shaddah (doubling) on the ذ (dhal). The others read it with a fatha (a vowel mark) on the ي (ya) and a lightening of the ذ (dhal). The reading with the emphasis supports His saying, exalted is He, previously: "And they are not believers" [Al-Baqarah: 8]. This is news that they lie, and the reading with the lightening supports that the context of the verses is indeed news of their lying, and the warning of the painful punishment is directed at the lying and at the falsehood in such incidents, as it is encompassed by disbelief. The reading with the emphasis is more preferable.

(p-121) And "when" is a time adverb. It was narrated from Al-Mubarrid that it is in your saying regarding surprise: "He went out, and when Zayd was there," an adverb of place because it implies a body. This is rejected because the meaning is: He went out, and when Zayd was present. It only implies the source as is required by other time adverbs, such as their saying: "Today there is wine, and tomorrow there is a matter." Its meaning is the existence of wine and the occurrence of a matter. The agent in "when" in this verse is: they said. The origin of "it was said" is a saying, and the movement of the و (waw) was transferred to the ق (qaf), so it was turned into a ي (ya) due to the breaking of what precedes it. Al-Kisai read: "it was said, and it was diminished, and it was evil, and it was made, and it was brought" with a dammah on the beginnings of all of that. This was narrated from Ibn 'Amir, and it was narrated from him that he broke "it was diminished and it was said and it was brought," the غ (ghain), ق (qaf), and ج (jeem), wherever they occurred in the Qur'an. Nafi' gave a dammah to two of all of that: "it was evil and it was made" and broke the rest. Ibn Kathir, 'Asim, Abu 'Amr, and Hamzah would break the beginnings of all of these letters.

The pronoun in "for them" refers back to the hypocrites mentioned earlier. Some people said: the reference here is to the hypocrites among the Jews. Salman the Persian, may Allah be pleased with him, said in the interpretation of this verse: These have not yet ceased to exist, and the meaning of his saying: they have not perished, is that they come in every time.

And "Do not cause corruption in the land" means: by disbelief and by supporting the disbelievers. And "We" is a name from the pronouns of the nominative case, built on the basis of inclusion since it is a strong name that applies to the singular, the dual, and the plural. Thus, it was given the best of movements. Also, since it is most often a pronoun of the plural, and the pronoun of the plural in the apparent names is the letter waw, it was given the dammah since it is the sister of waw.

As for the saying of the hypocrites: "Indeed, we are but reformers," there are three interpretations: one of them is that they deny that they cause corruption, and this is a continuation of their hypocrisy. The second is that they acknowledge their support of the disbelievers and claim that it is reform because they are relatives who should be connected. The third is that they are reformers between the disbelievers and the believers, and for this reason, they mingle with the disbelievers.

And "Ala" is the beginning of a speech, and "Indeed" with the kasrah of the alif is a new statement, and "they" is the second nominative by beginning, and "the corruptors" is its predicate, and the sentence is the predicate of "Indeed." It is possible that it is a separation, and the Kufans call it the support, and "the corruptors" could be the predicate of "Indeed," so on this there is no place for "they" in the grammatical structure, and it is possible that it is an affirmation of the pronoun in "Indeed they are." Thus, its position is accusative.

And the alif and lam entered in his saying: "the corruptors" for what has been previously mentioned in his saying: "Do not cause corruption," as if it is a type of covenant. If the news about them had come without prior mention of the term, it would have been "Indeed they are corruptors," as Al-Jurjani said.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And this alif and lam imply exaggeration, as when you say: "Zayd is the man," meaning: the truth of the man. Thus, it may suffice without a preamble that necessitates a covenant.

And "but" in its entirety is a word of correction, and it is possible that what is meant here is: they do not realize that they are corruptors, and it is possible that it is meant: they do not realize that Allah exposes them. This is while their saying "Indeed, we are but reformers" is a complete denial of corruption, and the first possibility is that their saying: "Indeed, we are but reformers" is their belief that it is reform in terms of kinship, or reform between the believers and the disbelievers.