۞ وَإِذَا رَأَيْتَهُمْ تُعْجِبُكَ أَجْسَامُهُمْ ۖ وَإِن يَقُولُوا۟ تَسْمَعْ لِقَوْلِهِمْ ۖ كَأَنَّهُمْ خُشُبٌ مُّسَنَّدَةٌ ۖ يَحْسَبُونَ كُلَّ صَيْحَةٍ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚ هُمُ ٱلْعَدُوُّ فَٱحْذَرْهُمْ ۚ قَـٰتَلَهُمُ ٱللَّهُ ۖ أَنَّىٰ يُؤْفَكُونَ
Wa izaa ra aytahum tu'jibuka ajsaamuhum wa iny yaqooloo tasma' liqawlihim kaannahum khushubum musannadah; yahsaboona kulla saihatin 'alaihim; humul 'aduwwu fahzarhum; qaatalahumul laahu annaa yu'fakoon
Onlara baktığın zaman cüsseleri hoşuna gider; konuşurlarsa sözlerini dinlersin; tıpkı, sıralanmış kof kütük gibidirler; her çığlığı kendi aleyhlerine sayarlar; onlar düşmandır, onlardan çekin; Allah canlarını alsın, nasıl da aldatılıp döndürülüyorlar.
When you see them, their figures please you, and when they speak, you listen to what they say. Yet they are like propped-up timbers, imagining every cry to be against them. They are the enemy, so beware of them. May God destroy them — how deluded they are!
The impression is real, and the verse grants it: their bearing is striking and their speech worth hearing. What follows is a picture of cut timber propped against a wall — upright, shaped, carrying no load and leaning on something else. The next clause turns inward, to men who take every shout in the street as aimed at them, which is the condition of anyone whose outside and inside have parted.