O you who have believed, this is a address to the hypocrites who believed with their tongues. It may also be for the believers, meaning: when you converse privately, do not resemble those in their private conversations of evil. And converse privately in righteousness and piety. And from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: "When you are three, let not two of you converse privately without the third, for that saddens him." [Agreed upon, and this wording is from Muslim from the hadith of Ibn Mas'ud. And his saying: "And he narrated without the third," this wording is from Bukhari. "Benefit": Al-Bazzar narrated from the hadith of Ibn Umar something similar and added, "Except by his permission." I said: If they are four? He said: There is no harm in that.]

And it was narrated "without the third." And it was read as "do not converse privately." And from Ibn Mas'ud: If you converse privately, do not converse privately. The private conversation refers to the private conversation of sin and transgression, as indicated by His saying: "to sadden those who have believed." The meaning is that the devil adorns it for them, so it is as if it is from him to provoke those who have believed and sadden them. And the devil or sadness does not harm them at all except by the permission of Allah.

If you say: How does the devil or sadness not harm them except by the permission of Allah? I say: They would mislead the believers in their private conversations and gestures that their attackers have been defeated and that their relatives have been killed. So he said: The devil or sadness does not harm them with that misleading except by the permission of Allah, meaning: by His will, which is that death be decreed upon their relatives or victory over the attackers. And it was read: "to sadden," and "to sadden."