كَمَثَلِ الشَّيْطَانِ إِذْ قَالَ لِلْإِنسَانِ اكْفُرْ فَلَمَّا كَفَرَ قَالَ إِنِّي بَرِيءٌ مِّنكَ إِنِّي أَخَافُ اللَّهَ رَبَّ الْعَالَمِينَ (16)
(59:16) Their parable is that of Satan when he says to man: 'Disbelieve,' but when he disbelieves, he says: 'I am quit of you. Verily I fear Allah, the Lord of the Universe.' *27
*27) That is, "These hypocrites arc 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: 48 above. 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. 1 see that which you cannot see. Indeed, 1 fear Allah."