NOTE: The title of this video is verse 63:4 of the Qur’ān (Sūrat al-Munāfiqūn; The Hypocrites). Here is the verse in full:
And when you see them, their forms please you, and if they speak, you listen to their speech. [They are] as if they were pieces of wood propped up – they think that every shout is against them. They are the enemy, so beware of them. May Allah destroy them; how are they deluded?
For those interested, here is some Qur’ān tafāsīr (exegesis) from classical mufassirūn (exegetes) on this particular verse:
Tafsīr al-Jalālayn:
And when you see them, their figures please you, on account of their fairness; and if they speak, you listen to their speech, because of its eloquence. [Yet] they are, by virtue of the enormous size of their figures, [yet] in their lack of comprehension, like blocks of timber (read khushbun or khushubun) [that have been] propped-up, set reclining against a wall. They assume that every cry, made, like a battle-cry or one made to [retrieve] a lost camel, is [directed] against them, because of the [extent of] terror in their hearts, lest something should be revealed deeming their blood licit. They are the enemy, so beware of them, for they communicate your secrets to the disbelievers. May God assail them!, destroy them! How can they deviate?, how can they be turned away from faith after the proofs [for it] have been established?
Tanwīr al-Miqbās min Tafsīr Ibn ‘Abbās:
(And when thou) O Muhammad (seest them) i.e. ‘Abdullah Ibn Ubayy and his two friends (their figures please thee) their bodies and appearance please you; (and if they speak) saying: we know you are Allah’s Messenger (thou givest ear unto their speech) you believe what they say and think they are truthful while they are not. ((They are)) i.e. their bodies are (as though they were blocks of wood in striped cloaks) aligned against the wall; He says: there is no goodness or light in their hearts just as dry wood has no life or moistness in it. (They deem every shout) every noise in Medina (to be against them) because of their cowardice. (They are the enemy, so beware of them) and never feel safe from them. (Allah confound them) Allah cursed them! (How they are perverted!) How they lie; it is also said this means: how they turn people away through lies!
Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr:
(They are the enemies, so beware of them. May Allah curse them! How are they denying the right path) means, how they are being led astray to the misguidance, away from the guidance. Imam Ahmad recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Prophet said, (Hypocrites have certain signs that they are known by. Their greeting is really a curse, their food is from stealing and the war booty they collect is from theft. They shun the Masjid and they do not come to the prayer but at its end. They are arrogant; it is neither easy for them to blend in, nor it is easy for people to blend with them. They are like pieces of wood by night and are noisy by day.)
—
_________
