His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "The hypocrites fear that a Surah will be revealed to them that informs them of what is in their hearts. Say, 'Mock on! Indeed, Allah will bring forth what you fear.'" "And if you ask them, they will surely say, 'We were only conversing and playing.' Say, 'Is it Allah and His verses and His Messenger that you were mocking?'" "Do not make excuses; you have disbelieved after your faith. If We pardon a group of you, We will punish another group because they were criminals."

His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "The hypocrites fear" is news about the state of their hearts. Their fear is that a Surah will be recited. Their belief - whether it will be revealed or not - is not explicitly stated in the verse, but it is apparent. If it is taken according to the implication of their hypocrisy and their belief that this is not from Allah, then this is a clear aspect. If it is said that they believe that this is revealed from Allah while they are hypocrites, then this is disbelief and obstinacy. Al-Zajjaj and some who have taken caution from this possibility said: The meaning of "fear" is an imperative, even though its wording is that of a report, as if He is saying: "Let him beware."

And Abu Amr and a group with him read: "that a Surah will be revealed," with the noon being silent and the zay being light. Al-Hasan, Al-A'raj, Asim, Al-A'mash, and 'Isa read with the noon being opened and the zay being emphasized. And "that" in His saying: "that will be revealed" is the view of Sibawayh that "fear" is the doer, so it is its object. Others said: "feared" is only from the states of the soul that do not exceed, like "was frightened." The estimation is: "The hypocrites fear that a Surah will be revealed to them."

And His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "Mock on" has the wording of a command and its meaning is a threat. Then He began to inform them that He will bring forth to them into the realm of existence what they fear. And He did that, blessed and exalted is He, in Surah At-Tawbah, which is called the 'disclosing' because it disclosed the hypocrites.

And Al-Tabari said: "The hypocrites, when they criticized the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and mentioned something of his affair, would say: 'Perhaps Allah will not expose our secret.' So the verse was revealed regarding that."

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: "And this necessitates the disbelief of obstinacy that we mentioned."

And His saying, exalted is He: "And if you ask them" - the verse was revealed, according to what a group of the commentators mentioned, regarding Wadi'ah ibn Thabit. This is because he was with a group of the hypocrites who were traveling during the Battle of Tabuk. Some of them said to one another: "This one intends to conquer the palaces of Syria and take the fortresses of the sons of Al-Asfar; far from it, far from it." The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, confronted them about this and said to them: "You said such and such." They replied: "We were only joking and playing," meaning: we were not serious. Ibn Ishaq mentioned that a group of them advanced to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and some of them said: "By Allah, you will be tomorrow in chains as captives of the sons of Al-Asfar," to this effect. The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Catch up with the people, for they have been burned, and inform them of what they said," and the verse was revealed. It was narrated that Wadi'ah ibn Thabit, the one mentioned, said about a group of the hypocrites: "I have not seen anyone like our reciters; they are not more greedy for food, nor more deceitful, nor more cowardly in the face of confrontation." The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, admonished them for this statement, and they said: "We were only joking and playing." Then he commanded him to report them: "Were you mocking Allah and His verses and His Messenger?" Within this report is a warning. Al-Tabari narrated from Abdullah ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said: "I saw the one who said this statement, Wadi'ah, clinging to the saddle of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, as he walked along, stumbling, while saying: 'We were only joking and playing,' and the Prophet said: 'Were you mocking Allah and His verses and His Messenger?'" It was mentioned by Al-Naqqash that this clinger was Abdullah ibn Ubayy ibn Salul, and this is an error because he did not witness Tabuk.

And His saying, exalted is He: "Do not excuse yourselves" - the meaning is: Say to them, O Muhammad: "Do not excuse yourselves" in the context of reprimand, as if He said: do not do what is of no benefit. Then He judged them with disbelief and said: "Say to them: 'You have certainly disbelieved after your faith' which you claimed and spoke of." And His saying: "about a group of you" means, as the commentators mentioned, one man, it was said his name was Mikhshan ibn Humayr, as Ibn Ishaq said. Ibn Hisham and Muqatil said: Makhshi. Khalifah ibn Khayyat mentioned in his history: Mukhashin ibn Humayr. Ibn Abd al-Barr mentioned: Mukhashin al-Himyari. All of them mentioned that he was martyred at Yamamah, and he had repented and named himself Abd al-Rahman. He called upon Allah to be martyred, and his matter was unknown, and that happened at Yamamah, and his body was not found. Ibn Abd al-Barr also mentioned: Makhshi ibn Humayr with a dammed 'h' and an opened 'm' and a still 'y', and he did not perfect the story.

Makhshi was with the hypocrites who said: "We were only joking and playing." It was said that he was a hypocrite, then he repented with a true repentance. It was said that he was a sincere Muslim, but he heard the words of the hypocrites, so he laughed with them and did not deny them. So Allah forgave him in both cases, then He made punishment obligatory for the remaining hypocrites who said what has preceded.

And all seven reciters read, except for 'Asim: "If a group is forgiven" with a 'ya', "let it be punished" with a 'ta'. And Al-Jahdari read: "If He forgives" with an open 'ya' on the assumption that: If Allah forgives, "let Allah punish" a group with the accusative case. And 'Asim, Zayd ibn Thabit, and Abu Abdur-Rahman read: "If we forgive" with a 'nun', "let us punish" also with a 'nun' for all. And Mujahid read: "If it is forgiven" with a 'ta' that is rounded on the assumption that: If these sins are forgiven, "let it be punished" also with a 'ta'.