Qur'an 63:4 Al-Munafiqun
۞ وَإِذَا رَأَيْتَهُمْ تُعْجِبُكَ أَجْسَامُهُمْ ۖ وَإِن يَقُولُوا۟ تَسْمَعْ لِقَوْلِهِمْ ۖ كَأَنَّهُمْ خُشُبٌۭ مُّسَنَّدَةٌۭ ۖ يَحْسَبُونَ كُلَّ صَيْحَةٍ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚ هُمُ ٱلْعَدُوُّ فَٱحْذَرْهُمْ ۚ قَٰتَلَهُمُ ٱللَّهُ ۖ أَنَّىٰ يُؤْفَكُونَ
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?
Saheeh International
What it says
Two separate signs are named and then undercut: their appearance draws the eye and their speech draws the ear, and neither carries the substance a body or a statement should carry. The simile compares them to timbers leaned against a wall, upright and shaped but hollow, standing without bearing any weight. Their fear runs the same way, every shout in the camp, they take as aimed at them, because the guilt sits under the surface they present.
Word by word
وَإِذَا wa-idhā and when · رَأَيْتَهُمْ raʾaytahum you see them · تُعْجِبُكَ tuʿjibuka it pleases you · أَجْسَامُهُمْ ajsāmuhum their bodies · وَإِن wa-in and if · يَقُولُوا۟ yaqūlū they speak · تَسْمَعْ tasmaʿ you listen · لِقَوْلِهِمْ liqawlihim to their words · كَأَنَّهُمْ ka'annahum as though they were · خُشُبٌ khushubun timbers · مُّسَنَّدَةٌ musannadatun propped up · يَحْسَبُونَ yaḥsabūna they think · كُلَّ kulla every · صَيْحَةٍ ṣayḥatin shout · عَلَيْهِمْ ʿalayhim is against them · هُمُ humu they · ٱلْعَدُوُّ al-ʿaduwwu are the enemy · فَٱحْذَرْهُمْ fa-ḥdharhum so beware of them · قَٰتَلَهُمُ qātalahumu may He fight them · ٱللَّهُ allāhu Allah · أَنَّىٰ annā how · يُؤْفَكُونَ yuʾfakūn are they deluded
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