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284
THE QUR'ÂN.
with God is better than sport and than merchandise, for God is the best of providers !'
LXII, 11-LXIII, 4.
THE CHAPTER OF THE HYPOCRITES 1.
(LXIII. Medinah.)
IN the name of the merciful and compassionate God.
When the hypocrites come to thee, they say, 'We bear witness that thou art surely the Apostle of God;' but God knows that thou art His Apostle : and God bears witness that the hypocrites are liars!
They take their faith 2 for a cloak, and then they turn folks from God's way:-evil is that which they have done! That is because they believed and then disbelieved, wherefore is a stamp set on their hearts so that they do not understand!
And when thou seest them, their persons please thee; but if they speak, thou listenest to their speech they are like timber propped up: they reckon every noise against them! They are the foe, so beware of them!-God fight against them, how they lie!
tion hearing the drums beat rushed out to see the sight, with the exception of about twelve of them.
1 The disaffected portion of the inhabitants of Medînah. See Introduction, p. xxxiv.
2 Or, by a various reading, 'their oaths.'
Abdallah ibn Ubai, the leader of the 'Hypocrites' (see Introduction, p. xxxv), was a man of fine presence and eloquent address.
I. e. though of tall and imposing presence, they are really like mere logs.
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