[618] At a later time in the day.
[619] This is a privileged glimpse given to the Prophet (ﷺ) by God into the ways and wiles of his antagonists. In order to sow the seed of doubt in the minds of Believers, they hatched the plot of claiming to embrace Faith after giving the matter some thought, only to disclaim it as untrue shortly thereafter, seemingly as a result of much consideration and insider knowledge. They hoped that this would cause some Believers to waver on the ground that they would see these so-called knowledgeable people abandon the religion in such a way. (al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī)