while they themselves are not believers.

“And they deceive none but themselves.” Ibn Kathir, Nafiʿ, and Abu ʿAmr recited it as wa ma yukhadiʿuna (“and they seek to deceive”), like the first occurrence, regarding it as a reciprocal verb-form that can be used with only one participant. The remaining reciters read wa ma yakhdaʿuna (“and they deceive”), according to the basic verb form.

“Except themselves”: for the evil consequence of their deception returns upon them. Allah Most High makes His Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, aware of their hypocrisy, so they are exposed in this world and become deserving of punishment in the Hereafter. “Yet they do not perceive”: that is, they do not know that they are deceiving themselves and that the evil consequence of their deception will return upon them.

“In their hearts is a disease”: that is, doubt and hypocrisy. The basic meaning of disease is weakness. Doubt in religion is called a disease because it weakens religion just as illness weakens the body. “So Allah increased their disease”: because the verses continued to descend, one after another; whenever they disbelieved in a verse, they increased in disbelief and hypocrisy. This is the meaning of His saying, Most High:

“And as for those in whose hearts is a disease, it increased them in defilement upon their defilement.” (125—al-Tawbah)

Ibn ʿAmir and Hamzah recited fa-zadahum with imalah, inclining the long a vowel toward i. Hamzah additionally applied this inclination to zada (“increased”) wherever it occurs, as well as to zagha (“deviated”), khaba (“failed”), taba (“was good”), haqa (“befell”), and daqa (“became constricted”). The other reciters did not apply this inclination.

“And for them is a painful punishment”: one whose pain penetrates to their hearts. “Because they used to deny”: the word ma here indicates the verbal noun; that is, because inwardly they declared Allah and His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him, to be liars. The Kufan reciters read it without the intensified consonant, meaning: because of their lying, when (1) they said, “We believe,” while they were not believers.

“And when it is said to them, ‘Do not spread corruption in the land,’ they say, ‘We are only reformers.’ (11) Indeed, it is they who are the corrupters, but they do not perceive. (12) And when it is said to them, ‘Believe as the people have believed,’ they say, ‘Are we to believe as the foolish have believed?’ Indeed, it is they who are the foolish, but they do not know. (13)”

Regarding “And when it is said”: al-Kisaʾi recited qila (“it was said”), ghida (“it was diminished”), jiʾa (“it was brought”), hila (“a separation was made”), siqa (“it was driven”), and siʾat (“it was distressed”) with a partial pronunciation of their initial u-vowel. He agreed with Ibn ʿAmir in siqa, hila, siʾa, and siʾat, and with the people of Medina in siʾa and siʾat. Their original form is quwila, with a u-vowel on the first consonant and an i-vowel on the waw, analogous to qutila (“was killed”); the partial u-vowel was indicated in order to point to the waw that changed. The remaining reciters read all of them with an initial i-vowel. They found the vowel on the waw cumbersome, so they transferred its i-vowel to the first consonant of the verb; the waw then changed into ya because of the preceding i-vowel. ⦗7/a⦘

“And when it is said to them”: that is, to the hypocrites. It was also said that this refers to the Jews—that is, the believers said to them, “Do not spread corruption in the land,” through disbelief and by hindering people from faith in Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, and the Quran. It was also said that its meaning is, “Do not disbelieve,” for disbelief is the gravest corruption in religion. They say, “We are only reformers,” as a lie, just as they say, “We believe,” while they are lying.

“Indeed” is a particle of attention, by which the addressee is alerted. “It is they who are the corrupters”: they corrupt themselves through disbelief, and they corrupt other people by hindering them from faith. “But they do not perceive”: that is, they do not know that they are corrupters, because they suppose that their concealment of disbelief is right conduct. It was also said that they do not know what punishment Allah has prepared for them.