﴿ يُخَٰدِعُونَ ٱللَّهَ وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَمَا يَخْدَعُونَ إِلَّآ أَنفُسَهُمْ وَمَا يَشْعُرُونَ ﴾

“They would deceive God and those who have attained to faith-the while they deceive none but themselves, and perceive it not.”

They would deceive God and the believers; and they only deceive them- selves; and they are not aware. The harm of their deception and the punishment for it comes back to themselves so it is as if they have deceived themselves in actuality for they devalue and belittle themselves. No one suffered the harm of their actions but themselves-they cut off their own lifeblood. When there is one who knows the true nature of things the one who desires to deceive him only deceives himself. The allusion in this verse is to the one who has forgotten [God's] prior kindness. He says �mine through me from me and I� slandering in his delusion and conjecture [what should be] �Yours through You from You and You.� This delusion is the most difficult of punishments because he sees a mirage sarāb and thinks it is drink sharāb until he comes to it and finds it to be nothing and he finds God there who pays him his account in full [24:39].