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﴿2﴾ إِن يَثْقَفُوكُمْ يَكُونُوا لَكُمْ أَعْدَاءً وَيَبْسُطُوا إِلَيْكُمْ أَيْدِيَهُمْ وَأَلْسِنَتَهُم بِالسُّوءِ وَوَدُّوا لَوْ تَكْفُرُونَ

1. Should they gain the upper hand over you, they would be your bitter enemies and mistreat you with their hands and their tongues with evil and they desire that you should desist from believing in your faith and disbelieve.

Exegesis

The Arabic root th-q-f denotes "to find, to confront," connoting that your enemies will not be satisfied unless you disbelieve. The blessed Verse is saying that how could believers befriend their enemies if wherever they find them, they will reveal their enmity through mistreating, slandering, and slaying them. Disbelievers intend that believers desist from believing and turn into disbelievers like them. In epistle 53 addressed to Mālik Ashtar mentioned in Nahj al-Balāgha, Hadrat ‘Alī (as) says: "Beware of the enemies' stratagems even after concluding the truce, since at times, the enemy approaches you to catch you by surprise." In Ghurar al-Hikam, he also says: "Do not feel secure from the enemy's harm even if he lauds you …"