إِنَّ ٱلْمُنَٰفِقِينَ يُخَٰدِعُونَ ٱللَّهَ وَهُوَ خَٰدِعُهُمْ وَإِذَا قَامُوٓا۟ إِلَى ٱلصَّلَوٰةِ قَامُوا۟ كُسَالَىٰ يُرَآءُونَ ٱلنَّاسَ وَلَا يَذْكُرُونَ ٱللَّهَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًۭا
The hypocrites indeed seek to deceive Allah, but it is He who outwits them. When they stand up for prayer, they stand up lazily, showing off to the people and not remembering Allah except a little,
مُّذَبْذَبِينَ بَيْنَ ذَٰلِكَ لَآ إِلَىٰ هَٰٓؤُلَآءِ وَلَآ إِلَىٰ هَٰٓؤُلَآءِ ۚ وَمَن يُضْلِلِ ٱللَّهُ فَلَن تَجِدَ لَهُۥ سَبِيلًۭا
wavering in between: neither with these, nor with those. And whomever Allah leads astray, you will never find any way for him.
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا تَتَّخِذُوا۟ ٱلْكَٰفِرِينَ أَوْلِيَآءَ مِن دُونِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ۚ أَتُرِيدُونَ أَن تَجْعَلُوا۟ لِلَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ سُلْطَٰنًۭا مُّبِينًا
O you who have faith! Do not take the faithless for friends instead of the faithful. Do you wish to give Allah a clear sanction against yourselves?
إِنَّ ٱلْمُنَٰفِقِينَ فِى ٱلدَّرْكِ ٱلْأَسْفَلِ مِنَ ٱلنَّارِ وَلَن تَجِدَ لَهُمْ نَصِيرًا
Indeed the hypocrites will be in the lowest reach of the Fire, and you will never find any helper for them,
إِلَّا ٱلَّذِينَ تَابُوا۟ وَأَصْلَحُوا۟ وَٱعْتَصَمُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ وَأَخْلَصُوا۟ دِينَهُمْ لِلَّهِ فَأُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ مَعَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ۖ وَسَوْفَ يُؤْتِ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَجْرًا عَظِيمًۭا
except for those who repent and reform, and hold fast to Allah and dedicate their religion [exclusively] to Allah. Those are with the faithful, and soon Allah will give the faithful a great reward.
مَّا يَفْعَلُ ٱللَّهُ بِعَذَابِكُمْ إِن شَكَرْتُمْ وَءَامَنتُمْ ۚ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ شَاكِرًا عَلِيمًۭا
Why should Allah punish you if you give thanks and be faithful? And Allah is appreciative, all-knowing.
۞ لَّا يُحِبُّ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْجَهْرَ بِٱلسُّوٓءِ مِنَ ٱلْقَوْلِ إِلَّا مَن ظُلِمَ ۚ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ سَمِيعًا عَلِيمًا
Allah does not like the disclosure of [anyone’s] evil [conduct] in speech except by someone who has been wronged, and Allah is all-hearing, all-knowing.
إِن تُبْدُوا۟ خَيْرًا أَوْ تُخْفُوهُ أَوْ تَعْفُوا۟ عَن سُوٓءٍۢ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ عَفُوًّۭا قَدِيرًا
Whether you disclose a good [deed that you do] or hide it, or excuse an evil [deed], Allah is indeed all-excusing, all-powerful.
إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ يَكْفُرُونَ بِٱللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِۦ وَيُرِيدُونَ أَن يُفَرِّقُوا۟ بَيْنَ ٱللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِۦ وَيَقُولُونَ نُؤْمِنُ بِبَعْضٍۢ وَنَكْفُرُ بِبَعْضٍۢ وَيُرِيدُونَ أَن يَتَّخِذُوا۟ بَيْنَ ذَٰلِكَ سَبِيلًا
Those who disbelieve in Allah and His apostles and seek to separate Allah from His apostles, and say, ‘We believe in some and disbelieve in some’ and seek to take a way in between
أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلْكَٰفِرُونَ حَقًّۭا ۚ وَأَعْتَدْنَا لِلْكَٰفِرِينَ عَذَابًۭا مُّهِينًۭا
—it is they who are truly faithless, and We have prepared for the faithless a humiliating punishment.
وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِۦ وَلَمْ يُفَرِّقُوا۟ بَيْنَ أَحَدٍۢ مِّنْهُمْ أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ سَوْفَ يُؤْتِيهِمْ أُجُورَهُمْ ۗ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ غَفُورًۭا رَّحِيمًۭا
But those who have faith in Allah and His apostles and make no distinction between any of them—them He will soon give their rewards, and Allah is all-forgiving, all-merciful.
English translation: Ali Quli Qarai
Sources triangulated: Ṭabarsī [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan]; Ṭūsī [tusi_al_tibyan]; Baḥrānī, al-Burhān [bahrani_al_burhan]; al-Qummī [qummi]; Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān [tabatabai_al_mizan]; An Enlightening Commentary [enlightening_commentary]. All six are present (non-silent).
The passage anatomises hypocrisy — the deceiving, show-off, wavering soul (vv.142–143) — forbids allying with disbelievers (v.144), consigns the unrepentant hypocrite to the Fire's lowest depth while opening the door of sincere repentance (vv.145–146), affirms that God needs no one's punishment (v.147), permits the wronged to speak out yet commends pardon (vv.148–149), and brands those who 'divide' God's messengers — believing in some and rejecting others — as the true disbelievers, against those who believe in all (vv.150–152).
1. The hypocrite's prayer and wavering (vv.142–143). All four Arabic sources read the lazy, show-off prayer and scant remembrance as the mark of insincerity, and 'wavering between' as vacillation between belief and disbelief; Ṭabarsī and al-Burhān add al-Ṣādiq's warning that riyāʾ is itself a form of shirk. [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] [tusi_al_tibyan] [qummi] [bahrani_al_burhan] [tabatabai_al_mizan]
2. The lowest depth, and the way out (vv.144–146). All read the prohibition of allying with disbelievers (lest one furnish a 'clear proof' against oneself), the hypocrites' place in the Fire's lowest layer, and the exception of those who repent, reform, hold fast and make their religion sincere. [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] [tusi_al_tibyan] [qummi] [tabatabai_al_mizan] [enlightening_commentary]
3. The wronged may speak (vv.148–149). Ṭabarsī, Ṭūsī, al-Qummī and al-Burhān all read 'except one who has been wronged' as licensing the wronged to disclose or answer the wrong (the poorly-hosted guest; the rebuttal of false praise), while 'if you pardon an evil, God is Pardoning' commends forbearance. [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] [tusi_al_tibyan] [qummi] [bahrani_al_burhan]
4. No dividing the messengers (vv.150–152). All read the dividers — 'we believe in some and disbelieve in some' — as 'the disbelievers in truth,' with the Jews' and Christians' selective belief the paradigm, and the rewarding of those who believe in all the messengers. [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] [tusi_al_tibyan] [tabatabai_al_mizan] [enlightening_commentary]
This largely theological passage runs in broad agreement; the one Imāmī inflection is at v.150, where al-Qummī and al-Burhān read 'we believe in some and disbelieve in some' as those who ACKNOWLEDGED the Prophet yet DENIED the Commander of the Faithful's walāya — making the rejection of ʿAlī a species of the 'division' that renders one a 'disbeliever in truth.' [qummi] [bahrani_al_burhan] Ṭabarsī, Ṭūsī, al-Mīzān and the Enlightening Commentary keep the historical reference (the Jews and Christians who accept some prophets and reject others). [tabarsi_majma_al_bayan] [tusi_al_tibyan] [tabatabai_al_mizan] [enlightening_commentary] This Imāmī reading is recorded here as what the sources transmit, not as endorsed interpretation.