He, glorified and exalted is He, began by mentioning those who sincerely dedicated their religion to Allah. Their hearts matched their tongues, and their inner selves aligned with their outward actions and words. Then He followed with those who manifested disbelief both outwardly and inwardly, in their hearts and tongues. Then He thirdly mentioned those who believed with their mouths, while their hearts did not believe, and they concealed what they displayed. They are the ones about whom He said: (Mudhabbadhina bayna dhalika, la ila ha'ula'i wa la ila ha'ula'i). He named them hypocrites, and they were the most vile of disbelievers and the most hated to Him, and the most despised in His sight because they mixed disbelief with deception and trickery, and with polytheism in mockery and deceit. Therefore, He revealed about them: (Indeed, the hypocrites are in the lowest depths of the Fire). He described the state of those who disbelieved in two verses, and the state of those who were hypocrites in thirteen verses, condemning their wickedness and cunning, exposing them and their foolishness, mocking them and ridiculing their actions, and recording their tyranny, and their blindness, and calling them deaf, dumb, and blind. He struck for them terrible examples. The story of the hypocrites, in its entirety, is connected to the story of those who disbelieved, just as one sentence is connected to another.

The root of (nas) is (anas), its hamzah was omitted for ease, as it is said: luqah, in aluqah. The omission with the definite article is almost necessary; it is seldom said (al-anas). The evidence for its root is insan, anas, anasi, and ins.

They were named so for their visibility and because they provide companionship, as the jinn were named for their concealment. Therefore, they were called humans.

The weight of (nas) is fa'al because the pattern is based on roots. Do you not see that you say in the pattern of 'qah' if'al, and you have only the eye? It is one of the names of the collective, like rakhala. As for (nawis), it is a diminutive that comes contrary to its larger form, like anisiyan and rawjil. The definite article in it is for the genus. It may also refer to the specific, indicating those who disbelieved previously mentioned, as if it were said: And among these are those who say. They are Abdullah ibn Ubayy and his companions, and those who were in their situation among those determined on hypocrisy. Its position is similar to that of the people in your saying: I descended upon the tribe of so-and-so, but they did not welcome me, and the people are vile.

The (min) in (man yaqulu) is descriptive, as if it were said: And among the people are people who say such and such, like His saying (Among the believers are men). If you consider the lam to be for the genus. If you consider it to be for the specific, then it is relative, like His saying: (And among them are those who harm the Prophet). If you say: How can they be among those while the hypocrites are not sealed upon their hearts?

I say: Disbelief gathers both groups together and makes them one genus. The hypocrites are a type of this genus—distinct from the other type by an addition they made to disbelief, which is the deceit and mockery—does not prevent them from being part of the genus. For the genera are only differentiated by distinctions that occur between them. Those distinctions come from types, and do not prevent entry under the genus. If you say: Why was belief in Allah and belief in the Last Day specifically mentioned? I say: Their specific mention reveals their extreme wickedness and their persistence in immorality because the people were Jews, and the Jews' belief in Allah is not true belief, due to their saying: (Uzayr is the son of Allah). Likewise, their belief in the Last Day, because they believe in it contrary to its reality. Thus, their saying: (We have believed in Allah and in the Last Day) is compounded wickedness and directed disbelief, because if this saying were to come from them not in the manner of hypocrisy, and their belief was their belief, it would be disbelief, not belief.

When they say it with hypocrisy, as a deception to the Muslims and mockery of them, and show them that they are like them in true faith, it is wickedness upon wickedness, and disbelief upon disbelief. Furthermore, they have implied in this statement that they have chosen faith from both sides, surrounding it from its two ends, and encompassing its beginning and its end. In the repetition of the letter 'b', they claimed each of the two types of faith as being sound and firmly established. If you say: How does his saying (and they are not believers) correspond with their saying (we have believed in Allah and the Last Day)? The first is in reference to the action, not the doer, while the second is in reference to the doer, not the action. I say: The intention is to deny what they claimed and to negate it, thus following a path that leads to the desired aim. In it is an emphasis and exaggeration that is not found in others, which is the exclusion of themselves from being a group of the believers, due to what is known of their condition that contradicts the state of those who enter into faith. And when it is testified against them that they are in themselves in this state, it includes under the testimony against them the negation of what they claimed to affirm for themselves definitively. Similar to this is the saying of Allah, the Most High: (They want to escape from the Fire, but they will not escape from it), which is more eloquent than saying: And they do not escape from it. If you say: Why is faith mentioned absolutely in the second while it is qualified in the first? I say: It is possible that the qualification is intended and left due to the indication of what has been mentioned, and that by the absolute mention it is meant that they are not in faith at all, neither in faith in Allah and the Last Day, nor in faith in anything else. If you say: What is meant by the Last Day? I say: It may refer to the time that has no limit, which is the everlasting eternity that does not cease, due to its being later than the past times. And it may refer to the limited time from resurrection until the people of Paradise enter Paradise and the people of Hell enter Hell, for it is the last of the limited times after which there is no limit to time. Deception is to mislead its owner contrary to what he intends by it of the disliked. From their saying: A deceiving lizard, when the hunter brings his hand to the entrance of its burrow or intends to approach it, then it exits from another entrance. If you say: How is that when deceiving Allah and the believers is not valid? [Mahamud, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 'If you say how is that when deceiving Allah and the believers is not valid... etc.? Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This section of the words of Al-Zamakhshari combines both the good and the bad. We will point out what is in it of the dregs, so that the observer can take from it what is in accordance with the Sunnah, safe from falling into the mire of innovation, seeking help from Allah, who is the best of helpers. Among the things that contradict the Sunnah is his belief that Allah, the Most High, is knowledgeable by His essence, intending that He does not know. This is one of the traits attributed to the Mu'tazila in the introduction, that they deny the attributes of divine perfection, claiming thereby to uphold monotheism and glorification. The belief of the people of the Sunnah is that Allah, the Most High, is knowledgeable with an eternal, ancient knowledge, related to every known thing, whether necessary, possible, or impossible, and nothing escapes His knowledge, not even the weight of an atom in the earth or in the sky, nor anything smaller or larger, except in a clear book. This verse is sufficient as a confirmation of their belief in the establishment of the attribute of knowledge for Him, and in the generality of our relation to the universals and particulars, to what lies beyond them from the rational proofs for that. We are not in a position to mention them in this book. Among the things that contradict the Sunnah is his belief that there are existents that are not created by Allah, the Most High, because it is deemed ugly by his claim, as understood from the deception in this verse. What led him to these two errors is his belief that the impossibility of Him being deceived can only be established by Him being knowledgeable by His essence, so that His knowledge encompasses every existent, and thus He is not deceived, as the relation of the essence to the existents is a single relation. Nor can the impossibility of Him being a deceiver be established except by the impossibility of some existents emanating from Him, because it is deemed ugly by their claim. Indeed, this glorification is based on what has no basis or condition.

So we, the people of the Sunnah, believe that Allah, the Exalted, is All-Knowing with knowledge. Yet we believe it is impossible for Him to be deceived, because His knowledge, in our view, is general in its attachment, as we have described. We believe that nothing in existence occurs except by His power and nothing else. Nevertheless, we deny that deception can be attributed to Allah, the Exalted, due to what its apparent meaning suggests, which is that it occurs because of inability to confront and reveal what is concealed. This is what is mistakenly inferred in general. However, since He, the Exalted, has mentioned it in contrast to what He stated about the deception of the hypocrites, like the comparison of their cunning with His cunning, we know that what is meant is that He acted with them in a manner He called deception as a counteraction and similarity. Otherwise, He is capable of tearing their veil and bringing down punishment upon them visibly. This is the belief of the people of the Sunnah regarding this verse and similar ones, unlike al-Zamakhshari and his followers who claim to be monotheists while denying, and who glorify while associating partners. And Allah is the Guide to the truth. Likewise, the deception attributed to them is metaphorical, referring to their actions of deceivers based on their assumptions. The most truthful evidence that it is metaphorical is its negation immediately after its affirmation in His saying: (And they do not deceive except themselves, but they do not perceive). In this continuation, the possibility of a literal meaning is negated, so that the direction of the metaphor becomes clear. Among what the rhetoricians consider as evidence of metaphor is the truthfulness of its negation, so contemplate this section, for it has superiority over other sections. For the one who knows that nothing is hidden from him cannot be deceived, and the wise one who does not do what is vile cannot be deceived. And the believers, even if they may be deceived, cannot be deceived.

Do we not see His saying: 'And they sought rain from Quraysh, every deceived one'? [[And they sought rain from Quraysh, every deceived one... Indeed, the generous one, if deceived, is deceived.]] The Arabs, when afflicted by drought, would turn to Quraysh to ask for rain for them, because they are the guardians of the House of Allah and the protectors of its sanctuary, as the people of 'Aad did when they faced drought. Likewise, Umar sought rain through al-Abbas, the uncle of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him. And Abu Sufyan asked the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, for rain, and he responded to him, asking for rain for him despite the enmity between them. He says: The people asked every deceived one from Quraysh for rain, meaning they asked them for rain. And the master said: 'And they sought rain', meaning they asked for it, indicating that it is in the imperative form. In the authentic reports: meaning they asked him to give like rain, which supports the words of the master. And it is permissible to liken every deceived one from Quraysh to clouds metaphorically, asking them for rain. And the deceived one is the one overwhelmed by his generosity, as indicated by His saying: 'Indeed, the generous one.' And the verse is narrated as follows: 'There is no good in love that does not promise its bounties... So seek rain from Quraysh, every deceived one.' And it is narrated 'from a team' instead of 'Quraysh'. And His saying 'there is no good' is a circumstantial clause regarding love. And 'team' is a specific place in Hijaz.

And the saying of Dhul-Rumma: 'Indeed, the forbearing one and the one with Islam is deceived.' [[The eye becomes more radiant when she uncovers... And the eye is bewildered when she veils.]] That girl whom I loved unexpectedly... Indeed, the forbearing one and the one with Islam is deceived. This is Dhul-Rumma regarding his beloved Mai. And 'she uncovered' means she revealed her face. It is narrated: 'radiance' instead of 'more radiant'. The meaning is that her radiance when she uncovers her face for my eyes increases. And 'the eye is bewildered' means it is confused. It is narrated 'because of her' instead of 'in her', meaning because of her. And 'she veils' means she puts on the veil over her face. 'Unexpectedly' means without intention or awareness. And 'deceived' means tricked, meaning she is the young woman who caught my love unexpectedly. Then he consoled himself that the wise Muslim is often deceived.

The description has come with deception and has not come with tricks. I said: There are several aspects to this. One is that it can be said that their appearance of acting with Allah, while they pretend to have faith and are disbelievers, is the appearance of deceivers. And the appearance of Allah's action with them—where He commanded the implementation of the rulings of Muslims upon them while they are considered by Him among the worst of disbelievers and the people of the lowest level of Hell—is the appearance of the deceiver. Likewise, the appearance of the believers' action with them, as they complied with Allah's command regarding them and implemented His rulings upon them. The second aspect is that this could be a translation of their belief and assumption that Allah is someone who can be deceived. For whoever claims to have faith in Allah while being a hypocrite does not truly know Allah or His attributes, nor does he understand that His essence is connected to all that is known, nor that He is free from committing evils. Thus, it is not far-fetched for someone like him to assume that Allah, in his view, could be deceived and afflicted by something undesirable in a hidden manner, and to assume that He could mislead His servants and deceive them. The third aspect is that when Allah is mentioned, the Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him, is intended, for he is His vicegerent on His earth and the one who speaks on His behalf with His commands and prohibitions to His servants, just as it is said: The king said such and such, and decreed such and such, while the speaker and the one who decreed is his minister or some of his close ones, whose words are his words and whose decree is his decree. This is confirmed by His saying: (Indeed, those who pledge allegiance to you are only pledging allegiance to Allah; the hand of Allah is above their hands) and His saying: (Whoever obeys the Messenger has obeyed Allah). The fourth aspect is that it could be from their saying: I found Zaid admirable and generous, meaning they deceive those who have believed in Allah. The benefit of this way is the strength of specificity, and since the believers hold a position with Allah, this path was taken with them. An example of this is: (And Allah and His Messenger have more right to be pleased with him) and similarly: (Indeed, those who harm Allah and His Messenger). An analogy in their speech is: I learned of Zaid's virtue, and the purpose here is to mention the encompassing knowledge of Zaid's virtue, not of him himself, because he was already known to him long ago, as if it were said: I learned of Zaid's virtue, but mentioning Zaid is a prelude and preparation for mentioning his virtue. If you say: Is it correct to limit it to 'deceiving' with only one aspect? I say: Its aspect is that it can be said: He meant by it 'I acted,' but it was expressed in the form of 'I deceived' because the form originally indicates competition and rivalry. Whenever the doer is challenged in an action, it becomes more eloquent and precise than if he were to do it alone without competition or rivalry, due to the increased strength of the motivation for it. This is supported by the reading of the one who recited: (They deceive Allah and those who have believed), which is Abu Haywah. And (They deceive) clarifies what is said. It may also be an independent statement, as if it were said: And why do they not call their faith false? What has softened them in that? It was said: They deceive. If you say: About what were they deceiving? I say: They were deceiving them for their own purposes and objectives, such as their avoidance of fighting and their exemption from it, and what they were seeking from others among the disbelievers. Among these is their feigning kindness towards the believers by honoring them, doing good to them, and giving them shares of the spoils and similar benefits. Among them is their gaining knowledge—due to their mingling with them—of the secrets that they were eager to spread to their adversaries. If you say: Why did He not expose them so that they would not reach these goals through their deception? I say: He did not expose them because of His knowledge of the interests that, if He had exposed them, would have resulted in corruption, and the preservation of Iblis and his offspring, and their avoidance of them, and what they are upon in misleading the hypocrites and instilling hypocrisy in them is more severe than that. But the reason for this is what He, glorified and exalted is He, knows of the interest. If you say: What is meant by His saying: (And they deceive not except themselves)? I say:

It is permissible that it is meant: And they do not treat themselves in that manner resembling the treatment of deceivers, except themselves, because its harm affects them, and its cunning surrounds them. As you say: So-and-so harms So-and-so, and he harms no one but himself. That is, the circle of harm returns to him and does not extend beyond him. It may be meant the reality of deception, that is: They deceive themselves in that they promise it falsehoods and lie to it about what they tell it. Their souls also promise them and speak to them with wishes. It may be meant: And what they deceive, and it was brought in the form of 'they do' for emphasis. And it is read: And what they deceive, and they deceive from [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: khada'a]. And they deceive - with the opening of the 'ya' - meaning they deceive. And they deceive. And they deceive in the form of what has not been named its doer. The soul: the essence of a thing and its reality. It is said: I have such-and-such a soul. Then it was said to the heart: Soul because of it. Do you not see their saying: A person with his two small ones? Likewise, it means the spirit, and for blood, there is a soul because its existence is by blood. And for water, there is a soul due to its extreme need for it: Allah, the Exalted, said: (And We made from water every living thing). And the true soul of a man means the eye that has been struck by his soul, as they say: So-and-so is deliberating with his two souls - if he hesitates in the matter, two opinions and two callers arise for him, and he does not know which one to incline towards, as if they intended the caller of the soul and the whispering of the soul, so they named them: two souls, either because they emanate from the soul, or because the two callers, since they are like those advising him and commanding him, are likened to two essences, so they named them two souls. And the intended souls here are their essences. And the meaning of their deceiving themselves: that the deception is attached to them and does not extend to others nor surpass them to anyone else. It may also be meant their hearts, their inclinations, and their opinions. The feeling is the knowledge of a thing through sensory perception. [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: Qal Mahmud, may Allah have mercy on him: 'And the feeling is the knowledge of a thing through sensory perception... etc.'] Ahmad, may Allah have mercy on him, clarified this statement regarding the interpretation of feeling as he said that it is the knowledge of a thing from the perspective of sensory perception. Since the corruption of hypocrisy returns to the hypocrite in a clear and tangible manner, they are blamed for their ignorance of the tangible, so their feeling of it is negated. But knowledge of the truth and its distinction from falsehood is a rational and theoretical matter. The senses of a person are their faculties. The meaning is that the harm of that reaching them is like the tangible, and they, due to their prolonged heedlessness, are like one who has no sense. The use of illness in the heart may be literal and metaphorical. The literal meaning is that pain is intended, as you say:

In his belly is a disease. The metaphor is borrowed for some symptoms of the heart, such as bad beliefs, malice, envy, inclination towards sins, determination upon them, feeling of desire, cowardice, weakness, and other things that are corruption and a plague similar to disease, just as health and safety are borrowed for their opposites. What is meant here is what is in their hearts of bad beliefs and disbelief, or of malice, envy, and hatred. Their chests were boiling against the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and the believers with boiling anger and they hated them with the hatred that Allah, glorified and exalted is He, described in His saying: (Hatred has already appeared from their mouths, and what their breasts conceal is greater.) And they were burning with envy against them (If a good touch you, it distresses them). And enough of what was from Ibn Ubayy and the saying of Sa'd ibn 'Ubadah to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him: "Pardon him, O Messenger of Allah, and overlook, for by Allah, Allah has given you what He has given you, and the people of this lake have agreed to bind him with a band, and when Allah returned that with the truth He gave you, he was enraged by it." Or it is meant what has entered their hearts of weakness, cowardice, and feebleness, because their hearts were strong, either due to their strong hope in what they were talking about: that the wind of Islam blows for a while and then calms, and its banner flutters for days and then settles, so they weakened when despair took hold of them at the descent of Allah's victory upon His Messenger and the manifestation of the religion of truth over all other religions. Or due to their audacity and boldness in wars, they weakened in cowardice and feebleness when Allah cast terror into their hearts and they witnessed the strength of the Muslims and Allah's support for them with angels. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "I have been aided with terror for the distance of a month."

And the meaning of Allah increasing them in disease is that whenever revelation was sent down to His Messenger and they heard it, they disbelieved in it, so they increased in disbelief upon their disbelief. It is as if Allah is the one who increased them in what they increased, attributing the action to its cause, just as He attributed it to the surah in His saying: (And it increased them in filth upon their filth) because it is a cause. Or whenever His Messenger increased in support and expansion in the lands and decreased from the edges of the earth, they increased in envy, malice, and hatred, and their hearts increased in weakness and lack of hope in what they had placed their hopes upon, and cowardice and feebleness. It is possible that the increase in disease refers to the nature. Abu 'Amr read in the narration of Al-Asma'i: disease, and a disease, with the raa being silent: it is said he is in pain, so he is painful, as in the saying of punishment with it, similar to the saying:

A greeting between them is a strike and a painful one.

This is from the poem of 'Amr ibn Ma'di Karb, the companion of the fragrant one, the sister of Durayd ibn Al-Simmah, who sought to marry her, so he responded to him and delayed him. It is said that 'fragrant one' is the name of a specific place. And 'the All-Hearing' is the one who hears, or the one who is heard, or the one who hears as the doer, or the hearer. The root of 'fa'il' is that it means the doer, like 'alim. Likewise, what comes with the meaning of the object, like 'jarh' and 'qatil.' It is rare for the quadriliteral to mean 'muf'al' as a name of the doer like 'waji'. And with the meaning of 'muf'al' as a name of the object like 'sami' meaning 'mismatched' as a name of the object. And it is common to hear with the meaning of 'mufa'al' like 'jalīs' and 'sharīk.'

And 'Sami' is the subject, and its predicate is 'it troubles me', meaning, is the call of longing from a fragrant flower keeping me awake while my companions are asleep? The question is for astonishment. 'And the troop' is an addition to the caller or to the pronoun 'it troubles me'. The troop is the organized group. 'And he entered' means he walked slowly from the door of fatigue. It is said he advanced and hurried. 'Was about it' means its amount. 'Al-Saleh' is that which has no hair on it, and perhaps it is likened to that head in its nakedness, exposure, and completeness, as it is said: a bald army, and the baldness is complete metaphorically. 'And horses' means, and the companions of horses have advanced for it like it. 'And the greeting' is the prayer for life, so it was informed about with the painful strike as a form of mockery.

The pronoun 'between them' refers to the horses in the sense of the army. He transitioned from mentioning the fragrant flower to mentioning war because he had raided Duraid in pursuit of it. This is in the manner of their saying: 'serious is his seriousness'. The pain is truly for the one who causes pain just as seriousness is for the serious.

What is meant by their lying is their saying, 'We have believed in Allah and the Last Day.' In it is a symbol of the ugliness of lying and its repulsiveness, and the imagination that the painful punishment is following them because of their lying. Similar to His saying, 'From their sins they were drowned', and the people are disbelievers. The sins were specified to signify their enormity and to deter from committing them.

And lying is the reporting of something contrary to what it is, and it is all ugly. As for what is narrated about Ibrahim, peace be upon him, that he lied three lies, the meaning is insinuation. But since its form is that of lying, it was named as such. And from Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, it is narrated that he said: 'Beware of lying, for it is distant from faith.' It is narrated in both elevated and stopped forms on Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him. As for the elevated form, it was reported by Ibn Adi from the path of Ismail ibn Abi Khalid from Qais from him. Al-Daraqutni said in the defects: Yahiya ibn Abdul Malik and Ja'far al-Ahmar and Umar ibn Thabit elevated it from Ismail. Others stopped it, and it is more correct. It is also narrated from Abu Usama and Yazid ibn Harun from him as well. It is not established from them. As for the stopped narration, Ahmad and Ibn Abi Shaybah both reported it from Waki' from Ismail and Ibn Mubarak in 'Zuhd' from Ismail likewise. Al-Taybi did not find the elevated form, so he brought instead from Safwan ibn Sulaym. It was said: O Messenger of Allah, can a believer be cowardly? He said: Yes. Can he be stingy? He said: Yes. Can he be a liar? He said: No. It was reported by Malik, and it is mursal. And it was read 'they lie', from his lying which is the opposite of his truthfulness, or from 'kathaba' which is an exaggeration in lying, just as there was exaggeration in truthfulness, so it was said: 'he affirmed'. Their similarity is: 'the thing became clear' and 'it became evident', and 'the garment shrank' and 'it shrank'. Or it means abundance, as they say: 'the animals died', 'the camels knelt', or from their saying: 'the wild animal lied' if it ran a distance and then stopped to look behind it, because the hypocrite is hesitant and wavering in his matter, and for this reason he is called 'wavering'. And he, blessings and peace be upon him, said: 'The example of the hypocrite is like that of a sheep that wanders between two flocks, turning to this one at one time and to that one at another time.'