His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "They will swear by Allah to you when you return to them so that you may turn away from them. So turn away from them. Indeed, they are filth, and their abode is Hell, a recompense for what they used to earn." "They will swear to you so that you may be pleased with them. But if you are pleased with them, indeed, Allah is not pleased with the disobedient people." "The Bedouins are stronger in disbelief and hypocrisy and more likely not to know the limits of what Allah has revealed to His Messenger. And Allah is Knowing and Wise." It is said that this verse is among the first that was revealed regarding the hypocrites during the Battle of Tabuk. This is because some of the hypocrites apologized to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and sought his permission to stay behind before his departure, and he permitted them. They left him, and one of them said: "By Allah, it is nothing but a morsel for the first eater." When the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, departed, the Quran was revealed about them. A man from the people turned away and said to the hypocrites in a gathering of theirs: "By Allah, a Quran has been revealed to Muhammad about you." They said to him: "What is that?" He said: "I do not remember except that I heard your description in it as filth." One of them, named Makshi, said: "By Allah, I would wish to be lashed a hundred times rather than be with you." He left until he joined the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and he said to him: "What brought you here?" He said: "The face of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, is being scorched by the wind while I am in the shade." It is narrated that he was among those who repented. And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "So turn away from them" means we are commanded to reprimand them and punish them by turning away and labeling them with hypocrisy. This is with generality, not with a specific designation from Allah or from His Messenger. Rather, each one of them has a field of deception that is wide open. And His saying: "filth" means foulness and impurity, and this description is enough as a worldly disgrace. Then He added the description of the Hereafter, saying: "And their abode is Hell," meaning their dwelling. Then He made that a recompense for their earning of sins and disbelief, while that is something that Allah has decreed and ordained, with no Lord other than Him and no deity besides Him. Al-Tabari narrated from Ka'b ibn Malik that he said: "When the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, returned from Tabuk, he sat with the people, and the left-behind ones came to him, apologizing and swearing. They were eighty-three men. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, accepted their public excuses and pledged allegiance to them and sought forgiveness for them, and he entrusted their secrets to Allah, the Exalted." And His saying, exalted is He: "They will swear to you so that you may be pleased with them" means this verse and the one before it address the believers along with the Messenger. The meaning is that they swear to you falsely, and their intention is for you to be pleased, not that they do that for the sake of Allah or for righteousness. And His saying: "But if you are pleased with them" to the end of the verse is a condition that includes the prohibition of being pleased with them. The ruling of this verse continues for everyone who is disparaged with innovation and similar matters. For indeed, the believer should hate him and not be pleased with him for any reason from the affairs of this world.

And His saying, the Most High: "The Bedouins are stronger in disbelief and hypocrisy and more likely not to know the limits of what Allah has revealed". The term "Bedouins" is a general word, and its meaning is specific to those whom Allah, the Exalted, has excluded. This is known by existence and how the matter was. This description was applied to them according to their distance from the cities and places of knowledge, rulings, and the Shari'ah. This verse was revealed about hypocrites who were in the deserts. There is no doubt that their fear there is less than the fear of the hypocrites of the city. Their tongues are therefore unrestricted, and their hypocrisy is more pronounced.

And Al-Tabari reported that Zayd ibn Suhan was narrating knowledge to his companions, and there was a Bedouin with him. Zayd had his left hand injured on the day of Nahavand. The Bedouin said: "By Allah, your words impress me, but your hand troubles me." Zayd said: "What troubles you about my hand when it is the left?" The Bedouin replied: "By Allah, I do not know whether you cut off the right or the left." Zayd said: "Allah has spoken the truth, 'The Bedouins are stronger in disbelief and hypocrisy and more likely not to know the limits of what Allah has revealed to His Messenger.'" And "more likely" means: more deserving and more fitting. The limits here refer to the Sunnahs, rulings, and landmarks of the Shari'ah.