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kayfa wa-ʾin yaẓharū ʿalaykum lā yarqubū fīkum ʾillan wa-lā dhimmatan yurḍūnakum bi-ʾafwāhihim wa-taʾbā qulūbuhum wa-ʾaktharuhum fāsiqūna
How? For if, they get the better of you, they will observe toward you neither kinship nor covenant. They please you with their mouths while their hearts spurn you; and most of them are transgressors.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah At-Tawbah – Verse 8
8 . “How (can it be?) For if they prevail against you, they will observe towards you neither ties of relationship nor treaty. They please you with their mouths while their hearts do not conscent, and most of them are ungodly.”
The repetition of the word ‘How’ in this verse is for the reason that it seems improbable and rare that pagans stand faithful to their covenant. Then, it’s meaning (the verb of which has been omitted) is: how there may remain a covenant for them while if they acquire mastery and prevail upon you, knowing the background of your Faith and your covenants, they will observe neither any ties of relationship nor any promise and treaty. The verse says:
The Arabic word: /’ill/ means ‘relationship’ and it has also been used in the sense of ‘oath’. By the usage of the word / yardūnakum / (they please you) in the verse, Allah has qualified the state of pagans meaning that their inwards are opposite from their outwards. The verse says:
Then, the verse has been continued implying that the grudges and enmities they have in their hearts are different from the nice words they utter through their mouths.
Finally, in the continuation of qualifications of pagans, the verse denotes that most of them excess in infidelity and idolatry and do not have any virtue and manliness to prevent them from these affairs, while there are some pagans who usually show chastity in committing what is disgrace, and refrain from breaching promise and perjury. The verse ends as follows: