22. From the style of this whole section (verses 11-17), it appears that it was revealed at the time when the Prophet (peace be upon him) had served a notice on the Bani anNadir to leave Al-Madinah within ten days, but had not yet laid siege to their quarters. As has been mentioned about, when the Prophet (peace be upon him) served the notice to the Bani an-Nadir, Abdullah bin Ubayy and other leaders of the hypocrites of Al-Madinah sent them a message to the effect that they would come to their aid with two thousand men, and that the Bani Quraizah and the Bani Ghatafan would also rise in their support; therefore, they should stand firm and should never surrender to the Muslims. For if the Muslims waged a war against hem, they would fight them from their side; and if they expelled hem, they also would go out with them. Thereupon Allah sent down these verses. Thus, chronologically this section is an earlier revelation and the first section a later revelation, when the Bani an-Nadir had actually been driven out of Al-Madinah. But in the Quran the order of the two passages has been reversed for the reason that the subject matter of the first section is of greater importance

23. That is, the reason why they dare not face you openly in the field is not that they are Muslim: and have fear of God in their hearts and are afraid that despite their claim to the faith when they come out to help the disbelievers as against the believers, they will be held accountable before God. But what actually restrains them from facing you is that when they see your profound love and spirit of selfsacrifice and devotion for Islam and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the great unity and concord in your ranks, they become dispirited. They know well that although you are few in number, the spirit of martyrdom which has turned each single individual among you into a gallant warrior and the organization which has molded you into a solid body, will also crush them along with the Jews when they clash with you in the battlefield. Here one should bear in mind the fact that if a person harbors the fear of another than God in his heart, it is in fact a negation of the fear of God. Obviously, the person who considers one of the dangers as lesser and the other greater, pays no heed to the first but does whatever he can to safeguard himself against the greater danger.

24. A great truth has been expressed in this brief sentence. A person who has sense knows that the real power to be feared is the power of Allah and not the power of men. Therefore, he will avoid every such thing as may call for the punishment of Allah, whether there is any human power to call him to account for it or not, and he will come out to accomplish any duty which Allah has enjoined on him, whether he is opposed and hindered by all the powers of the world. But a man, who has no sense, determines his attitude and conduct in view of the human powers, instead of Allah's power, in all matters of lift, because Allah’s power for him is imperceptible and human powers are perceptible. If he avoids something, he will avoid it, not because of the fear of Allah’s punishment for it, but because of a human power, which may be there to take him to task. And if he does something he will do is not because Allah has enjoined it, but because some human power has ordered or approved of it, and will reward him for it. This very distinction between intelligence and folly, in fact, distinguishes the character and conduct of a believer from that of an unbeliever.

25. This refers to the second weakness of the hypocrites. The first weakness was that they were cowardly. They feared the men instead of fearing God and had no higher aim of life before them like the believers, which might impel them to fight for it even at the cost of life. And their second weakness was that they had no common tie between them except hypocrisy, which might unite them together into a strong band. The only thing that had brought them together was that they were all feeling highly upset at the flourishing leadership and rule of Muhammad (peace be upon him), who was an outsider in their city, and at the warm reception and help which their own compatriots, the Ansar, were giving to the Emigrants. Because of this jealousy they wanted them to join hands together and in conspiracy with the enemies of Islam of the surrounding areas should somehow put an end to this alien power and authority. But apart from this negative objective there was no positive common aim to unify them. Each of their chiefs had his own separate band, each craved for his own leadership. No one was sincere to the other, but each bore such jealousy and malice for the other that they could neither forget their mutual enmities nor desist from harming the other fatally even while facing those whom they regarded as their common enemy.

Thus, at the outset, even before the battle against the Bani an-Nadir took place, Allah analyzed the internal state of the hypocrites and informed the Muslims that there was no real danger from their side; therefore, they should not feel alarmed at the rumors that when they lay siege to the Bani an-Nadir, the leaders of the hypocrites would attack them from the rear with two thousand men, and also bring the Bani Quraizah and the Bani Ghatafan along against them. All this was empty boasting which would be exposed at the very beginning of the trial.

26. The allusion is to the disbelievers of the Quraish and the Jewish clan of the Bani Qrainuqa who had been defeated by a handful of ill-equipped Muslims in spite of their larger numbers and superior equipment, due mainly to these weaknesses.

27. That is, these hypocrites are treating the Bani an-Nadir in much the same way as Satan treats men. Today they are urging them to stand firm and go forth and clash with the Muslims making them believe that they would come to their aid, but when they actually clash with the Muslims, they would renounce their pledges and promises and would never even look back to see their fate. The same way does Satan treat every disbeliever, and a similar treatment had he given to the disbelieving Quraish at Badr, as has been mentioned in (Surah al-Anfal, Ayat 48). First, he incited them with false hopes and brought them out to confront the Muslims, saying: Today no one can overcome you, for I am with you. But when the two forces met in battle, he took to his heels, saying: I have nothing to do with you. I see that which you cannot see. Indeed, I fear Allah.