as a keeper over them—that is, as a guardian and watcher. Rather, all their affairs belong to Him, exalted is He. It was also said that Allah abrogated this by the Verse of the Sword and commanded him to fight those who oppose Allah and His Messenger.

“And they say, ‘Obedience.’ But when they leave you, a group of them plan by night something other than what you say. Yet Allah records what they plan by night. So turn away from them and place your trust in Allah; and Allah is sufficient as a Guardian. Do they not then reflect upon the Quran? Had it been from other than Allah, they would surely have found in it many contradictions. And when there comes to them some news of security or fear, they spread it abroad. Had they referred it to the Messenger and to those in authority among them, those among them able to draw conclusions from it would have known it. Were it not for Allah’s bounty and mercy upon you, you would have followed Satan, except for a few.” (81–83)

His saying, exalted is He: “And they say, ‘Obedience’”—that is, the hypocrites say verbally to the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: “We believe in you, so command us, for your command is to be obeyed.” The grammarians said: That is, our affair and our way is to obey you. “But when they leave you”—that is, when they depart—“a group of them plan by night something other than what you say.” Qatadah and al-Kalbi said: “They plan by night” means that they alter and change what the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, had enjoined upon them; thus, planning by night may carry the sense of alteration. Abu Ubaydah and al-Qutaybi said: Its meaning is that they say and devise by night something other than what they had given you by day. Everything devised at night is termed planning by night. Abu al-Hasan al-Akhfash said: The Arabs say of something once it has been planned, “It has been planned by night,” likening it to the metrical arrangement of poetic lines.

“And Allah records”—that is, He establishes and preserves—“what they plan by night”: what they fabricate, alter, and devise. Al-Dahhak related from Ibn Abbas that it means what they conceal of hypocrisy. “So turn away from them,” O Muhammad, and do not punish them. It was also said: Do not disclose their names. The Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was forbidden from disclosing the names of the hypocrites. “And place your trust in Allah; and Allah is sufficient as a Guardian”: that is, take Him as your Guardian; Allah is sufficient as a Guardian and Helper.

His saying, exalted is He: “Do they not then reflect upon the Quran?” That is, do they not ponder the Quran? Reflection is to consider the ultimate outcome of a matter, and the end of everything is its conclusion. “Had it been from other than Allah, they would surely have found in it many contradictions”—that is, much disparity and contradiction, as Ibn Abbas said. It was also said: They would have found much contradiction in its reports about the unseen, concerning what has occurred and what will occur. Why then do they not reflect upon it, so that, through its freedom from contradiction and the truthfulness of what it reports, they may know that it is the Speech of Allah, exalted is He? For whatever is not from Allah cannot be free of contradiction and inconsistency.

His saying, exalted is He: “And when there comes to them some news of security or fear, they spread it abroad.” This was because the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would dispatch military detachments; and whenever they were victorious or defeated, the hypocrites would hasten to seek news of their condition, and would divulge and speak of it before