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yā-ʾayyuhā lladhīna ʾāmanū lā tattakhidhū biṭānatan min dūnikum lā yaʾlūnakum khabālan waddū mā ʿanittum qad badati l-baghḍāʾu min ʾafwāhihim wa-mā tukhfī ṣudūruhum ʾakbaru qad bayyannā lakumu l-ʾāyāti ʾin kuntum taʿqilūna
O you who have faith! Do not take your confidants from others than yourselves; they will spare nothing to ruin you. They are eager to see you in distress. Hatred has already shown itself from their mouths, and what their breasts hide [within] is yet worse. We have certainly made the signs clear for you, should you exercise your reason.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah 'Ali-Imran, Verse 118
118. "O' you who have Faith! Do not take intimate other than yourselves. They do not fall short in corrupting you. They like what distresses you. Hatred has already appeared from (the utterance of) their mouths while what their breasts conceal is greater. We have made the Signs clear for you if you ponder."
Following to the verses stated the kind of relations the Muslims may have with the disbelievers, this verse points at one of the most sensitive subjects, and, in the form of a delicate resemblance, it warns the believers. It says:
It is never such that their experience of friendship with you hinders them to desire pain and loss for you because of difference in religion and creed. In the contrary, they are interested in your distress and suffering.
They are usually careful of their statements and behaviour in order that you do not be cognizant of their interior mysteries and that their secrets would not be uncovered. They speak carefully and cautiously, yet the signs of enmity are manifest from among their speech.
In short, by this means, Allah has shown the way of recognition of the inward state of the enemies; and informs us from their hidden minds and their interior mysteries. It says:
Then, it adds: