⦗127⦘ And regarding His words: “Whenever a surah is revealed, they look at one another, asking, ‘Does anyone see you?’ Then they slip away. Allah has turned their hearts away because they are a people who do not understand.”

This means that when a surah is revealed so that the hypocrites—who fear that a surah may be sent down exposing what is in their hearts—might believe in it and act upon its contents, “they look at one another,” firmly resolved not to act upon it. They wait for an opportunity to escape the believers’ notice and say, “Does anyone see you? Then they slip away,” sneaking off and turning away in aversion. Allah therefore recompenses them with a punishment of the same kind as their deed: just as they turned away from acting, “Allah has turned their hearts away”; that is, He has barred them from the truth and forsaken them.

“Because they are a people who do not understand”—with an understanding that would benefit them. Had they understood, whenever a surah was revealed, they would have believed in it and submitted to its commands.

The purpose here is to demonstrate their intense aversion to jihad and the other ordinances of faith. As Allah Most High says concerning them: “When a definitive surah is revealed and fighting is mentioned therein, you see those in whose hearts is a disease looking at you like one overcome by death.”