142إِنَّ المُنافِقينَ يُخادِعونَ اللَّهَ وَهُوَ خادِعُهُم وَإِذا قاموا إِلَى الصَّلاةِ قاموا كُسالىٰ يُراءونَ النّاسَ وَلا يَذكُرونَ اللَّهَ إِلّا قَليلًاMuhammad AsadBehold, the hypocrites seek to deceive God - the while it is He who causes them to be deceived [by themselves]1 And when they rise to pray, they rise reluctantly, only to be seen and praised by men, remembering God but seldom,Some of the commentators (e.g., Razi) interpret the phrase huwa khadi uhum (lit., "He is their deceiver") as "He will requite them for their deception". However, the rendering adopted by me seems to be more in tune with 2:9, where the same type of hypocrisy is spoken of: "They would deceive God and those who have attained to faith - the while they deceive none but themselves, and are not aware of it." See also Manar,V, 469 f., where both these interpretations are considered to be mutually complementary.