The Quran

Preface

أَلَم تَرَ إِلَى الَّذينَ نُهوا عَنِ النَّجوىٰ ثُمَّ يَعودونَ لِما نُهوا عَنهُ وَيَتَناجَونَ بِالإِثمِ وَالعُدوانِ وَمَعصِيَتِ الرَّسولِ وَإِذا جاءوكَ حَيَّوكَ بِما لَم يُحَيِّكَ بِهِ اللَّهُ وَيَقولونَ في أَنفُسِهِم لَولا يُعَذِّبُنَا اللَّهُ بِما نَقولُ ۚ حَسبُهُم جَهَنَّمُ يَصلَونَها ۖ فَبِئسَ المَصيرُ

Yusuf Ali

Turnest thou not thy sight towards those who were forbidden secret counsels¹ yet revert to that which they were forbidden (to do)? And they hold secret counsels among themselves for iniquity and hostility, and disobedience to the Messenger. And when they come to thee, they salute thee,² not as God salutes thee, (but in crooked ways): And they say to themselves, “Why does not God punish us for our words?”³ Enough for them is Hell: In it will they burn, and evil is that destination!

When the Muslim Brotherhood was acquiring strength in Medīna, and the forces of disruption were being discomfited in open fight against the Messenger of Righteousness, the wicked resorted to duplicity and secret intrigues, in which the ringleaders were the disaffected Jews and the Hypocrites, whose machinations have been frequently referred to in the Qur-ān. E.g., see 2:8-16; and 4:142-145.
The salutation of God was (and is) “Peace!” But the enemies, who had not the courage to fight openly often twisted the words, and by using a word like Sam, which meant “Death!” or “Destruction!” instead of Salam! (Peace!), they thought they were secretly venting their spite and yet apparendy using a polite form of salutation. Cf. 2:104, and n. 107, where another similar trick is exposed.
The enemies derisively enjoyed their trick (see last note) according to their own perverted mentality. They asked blasphemously, “Why does not God punish us?” The answer is given; there is a Punishment, far greater than they imagine; it will come in good time; it will be the final Punishment after Judgment: it is delayed in order to give them a chance of repentance and reformation.